Local cops-in-schools review has cost $65K and counting

Consultations to determine whether police officers belong in London and area schools have cost $65,000 so far, and will likely end up costing more, CBC News has learned.

The review of the school resource officer (SRO) program is being led by the London consulting firm Centre for Organizational Effectiveness, which was hired by the region's English-language public and Catholic school boards and the police services in London, St. Thomas, Woodstock and Strathroy.

"We've been at it for two and a half years, and we're hoping to have a more formal report at the beginning of March, which will then go to the youth council, and then from there, we'll see what changes might come from that, and we'll present to the leadership committee," said Maria Sanchez-Keane, who heads the consulting firm.

The Thames Valley District School Board has spent $35,000 on their portion of the consulting fee. Officials with the London District Catholic School Board did not return phone calls or emails about the review this last week. The total cost of hiring the consulting firm so far is $65,000, Thames Valley officials told CBC News. It's unclear how much of the fee is also being covered by local police services involved in the review.

Some are questioning why the review is being done at all. For years, some community members who are Black, Indigenous or people of colour have said officers in schools are intimidating and make them feel uncomfortable, and some research has shown that police officers in schools don't make schools safer.

Toronto got rid of its school resource officer program in 2017; Kitchener ended its program in 2021. A review of this region's SRO program began in 2020, and the program waspaused in September 2021while further review of the program was conducted. An initial report from the Centre of Organizational Effectiveness, consisting of about 300 pages, found that some students and parents wanted the program scrapped.

More adults, not cops, needed in schools

"There have been reports done on SROs and there's no reason why London should do its own. Academics have been doing research on police in schools for decades. Reports exist in Toronto, reports exist in the United States," said Sandy Hudson, an activist and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto.

"For those students who do feel uncomfortable, for those parents that feel uncomfortable, for those kids who have been put in handcuffs, what kind of learning environment is that? We need to ensure that there are enough adults in schools to effectively deliver education and all the other social programs that students need in an educational setting."

Teachers have extensive training in dealing with kids and their age-specific needs, but police officers don't, Hudson added, and schools need more experienced educators, nurses and social workers.

"What I do know is that children benefit from trained adults being there for them in a way that society has deemed is necessary for the proper provision of education," she said.

There are five community members who sit on the review committee: Al Day from the N'Amerind Friendship Centre; Maya Mark from the Congress of Black Women; Muslim faith leader Abd Alfatah Twakkal; George Johnson, a founder of the group Black Youth Connect; and Oscar Correia, an education coordinator at Munsee Delaware Nation.

'White privilege is alive and well'

Each expressed surprise that the review had cost $65,000 so far, but said they were happy their work was taking time to speak directly to young people and police officers and really listen to experiences with the SRO program.

"What London is doing is trying to understand on a deeper level what worked with the program, what didn't, so we can keep the good and do away with the bad," said Twakkal. "The easy way out is to get rid of the whole program. It takes time, and it takes money to figure things out and hear all the voices."

That sentiment was echoed by Correia, who said the work is taking time because no one is cutting corners. "As long as, in the end, we address the issues, then I'm happy," he said.

Being a young Black person in a school filled with white kids is difficult, said Mark, who came to Canada from Grenada when she was 16 years old. "I think a lot of the police officers we spoke to were enlightened or humbled by our discussions," she said. "This is not a one or two-year fix. The issue runs much deeper than just having a meeting and discussing things for a couple of hours. We have a lot more work to do for the system to change."

Getting input from different police services and young people has taken time, said Day, and some people consulted seemed unaware that racism even existed. "White privilege is alive and well," he said. "I think this review is worthwhile if we listen and there's a change. If the review says that things should remain the same, then it hasn't been worth it."

Sanchez-Keane said the committee is working to come up with a recommendation that will take into account what young people have said and how they think the SRO program could be revamped.

That's what stood out for Johnson, who works with young people daily. "The committee wants to change the status quo, not just come up with a Bandaid solution," he said.