Last night, the Vancouver School Board (VSB) voted on whether to bring police back to schools with the controversial School Liaison Officer (SLO) program, and the motion passed.
In a statement, the VSB says that goal is to have an “effective and operational program no later than September 2023.”
Opinions on the vote have been relatively mixed.
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On April 26, 2021, VSB announced that the SLO program was discontinued. Over 1,900 people participated to share their thoughts and experiences about the program. This followed a request for review in 2020 in response to the perspectives shared by students who were members of the BIPOC community.
Based on a survey of students that the VSB conducted, many shared that they had positive experiences with the SLO program. In addition, there was more positive feedback (907 comments) than negative (531). When the VSB announced that the program was being discontinued, it said that the perspectives of BIPOC students were integral to the engagement.
During the last civic election, more than one party suggested that it would be revisiting the SLO program, including ABC Vancouver, which emerged victorious.
“A return of the School Liaison Officer program is something that many students, parents, and educators have been calling for,” said Preeti Faridkot, an ABC candidate for the School Board, in a statement.
The engagement that the VSB conducted will likely play a significant role in shaping this program, indicating it will probably be different than before.
“District staff will write to Chief Constable Palmer and the Vancouver Police Board to request the implementation of a revised and reimagined program,” said VSB.
Public sentiments on the vote to bring back the SLO program have been mixed. Patti Bacchus, an outspoken figure when it comes to Vancouver schools, suggested that a VPD Special Constable was the one who cast the deciding vote.
VPD Special Constable @RichardsonYVR has announced he’s not in a conflict of interest when it comes to voting on a @VSB39 motion that affects his employer and I guess that’s consistent with his CRA record and the time he had to resign as VSB chair. #ethics #disgusting #vanpoli
— Patti Bacchus (@pattibacchus) November 29, 2022
She said that the deciding vote is a potential breach of the BC School Act. Others have brought up concerns about racial profiling.
Listening to ABC School Board Trustees justifying the necessity to bring back police to schools by arguing an increase in student criminality and denying the existence of racial profiling is almost a surreal experience! pic.twitter.com/LTwon6wHkr
— Rocco Trigueros (@RoccoTrigueros) November 29, 2022
Some are applauding the move.
A reimagined SLO program will be positive a thing for Vancouver. The ABC School Board… it was a hard an courageous decision you made tonight. Thanks for not shying away from taking on the hard decisions. @JZForVSBTrustee @alfredchien1 @victoriajungvan @PreetiFaridkot
— Kareem Mahmoud Abbas Allam (@kareemallam42) November 29, 2022
The VSB told Daily Hive that details about the creation of the new program would be forthcoming.
With files from Kenneth Chan