Vancouver school board voted to reintroduce police into a dozen high schools

tomtidgewellNovember 29, 2022

Independent Christopher Richardson-backed ABC Vancouver Board of Trustees Delivers on Mayor Ken Sim’s Election Pledge

Former Vancouver Police Academy Liaison Officer. On May 8, 2018, British Alan Man competes in the 14th Annual Contribution to Inner City Kids (CLICK) Tug-of_war tournament at Vantec School in Vancouver, Columbia. Photo by Richard Lamb /PNG

The Vancouver Board of Education is pushing ahead with plans to reintroduce police into more than a dozen high schools.

On Monday night, five of the nine board members voted in favor of sending a letter to Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer asking him to come up with a plan to bring police back to school by September 2023. I was.

In April 2021, police were expelled from 17 Vancouver high schools under the watchful eye of former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart. This is out of concern about the impact of police presence in schools on the mental and physical health of students, especially those of color.

The former school board voted 8 to 1 to repeal the school liaison program.

But Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC Vancouver team campaigned to bring the police back to school. During the campaign, Sim credited the school police for protecting him from gangs and racism at his Vancouver high school.

The new VSB has nine trustees, four of whom are members of ABC Vancouver. Trustee Christopher Richardson was dropped from ABC’s slate late in the campaign for his involvement in several failed charities, but voted on ABC’s slate on Monday.

This means that two Vancouver Greens Trustees (Lois Chan-Pedley and Janet Fraser), COPE Trustee Susie Ma and One City Trustee Jennifer Reddy, will have more consultation before making a decision. It meant that various efforts to seek a

Ma said the topic was highly divisive and that more time should be spent examining the role of police in schools.

Non-voting student council member Mia Liu called on students to consult before any decisions were made.

The vote came a week after BC’s Human Rights Commissioner called for an end to the state’s school liaison officer program.

In a letter to the BC School Trustees Association, Commissioner Kasari Govender recommended that all school districts terminate the program unless they can demonstrate an evidence-based need that cannot be met in other ways.

The governor said Indigenous, Black, and other marginalized students, as well as their parents and communities, have expressed serious concerns about the harm caused by having police in schools.

In a prepared statement released after the vote, Green Trustee Lois Chan Pedley said the VPD did not address the issue of systemic racism within the military.

Comes with Canadian Press file