Thread by @adamadonaldson

After a slight delay, the Upper Grand District School Board meeting has begun.

We're taking care of regular business including the opening readings, the condolence report, and this month's good news.

Good news: Upper Grand schools have raised a lifetime total of $2 million for the Terry Fox Foundation. They received a plaque, which is now hanging in the board room.

The agenda is confirmed, and there are no declarations of conflict of interest. Minutes from March 23 and April 15 meetings also confirmed.

Next, we will hear from two delegates, Nasra and Moon. They are going to speak to Student Resource Officers. Nasra was a UGDSB student, and Moon is a daycare worker.

Nasra says she and Moon were asked to share the experiences of students of colour with SROs. Notes that LGBTQ+ students were 3x more likely to want them removed, and so do a similar portion of Black and Indigenous students.

Nasra notes that since the Toronto School Board removed SROs, there have been less punitive punishments, and more focus on using other tools like parents, guidance counsellors, and processes like restorative justice.

Nasra says a "transformative shift to happy, more equitable schools is possible."

Moon explains that students found officers intimidating because they wouldn't introduce themselves, and teachers wouldn't explain to students why they're there. She also notes that students that find police intimidating miss the message of anti-drug/smoking presentations.

Moon adds that police create tensions, and she comes from Toronto, where there are more Black and Brown people as the police, but that intimidation did not go away because the officer is a Person of Colour.

Now trustees will get to ask questions. Guelph rep Busuttil asks if the were part of the task force. Nasra says know, which she's been interacting the the diversity committee at Ross, her alma mater.

Centre Wellington trustee Barbara Lustgarten Evoy says that she hopes the board motto "care, respect and dignity" is reflected in everything they do, but is disappointed to hear that officers aren't even introducing themselves.

Evoy asks if the delegates are asking for 0 involvement. Moon says yes, and when groups talk about defunding the police, they mean spend it on non-police responses, no matter how minimal the amount of money.

Decisions of the task force is still a few items down the agenda. For now, the board is going to vote to approve some committee reports.

Trustees Evoy and Topping were just appointed as the board reps to the superintendent selection committee. Superintendent of Education Gary Slater is retiring this school year.

So we have now reached item #16: Police Presence in Schools Task Force Deferral Motion from March 23, 2021 Board Meeting. This is the list of motions:

Busuttil was the one that place the motion that deferred this from last month's meeting. She says acknowledges the emails the board has received supporting this motion, and she and Trustee Mike Foley had a discussion with the Guelph Muslim Society.

Busuttil adds that her deferment was not meant to promote doubt in the recommendations, but to assure that more people go to leave their two cents. It's important to have a strong message from the board in terms of direction and leadership and rebuild community partnerships.

Evoy thanks the task force for their hard work. She recognises that a lot of letters demanded a "complete divorce", but is pleased that there's still going to be some relationship. The board has to keep up collaboration with all parties.

Foley thanks all those involved in the task force, this is a big geographical area, and they tried to respect that diversity as much as possible. Foley was actually on the committee and notes that there was wide-ranging engagement.

Wellington North/Minto/Mapleton trustee Robin Ross also thanks committee for their diligence to reach as many people as they did, people that don't normally reach out, and people hard to reach because of pandemic issues, etc.

Ross notes that they're not the only board trying to "sort this out" and hopes that the board can keep making changes and keep evolving.

Busuttil has placed the motion on the floor, and asks for a recorded vote.

The recommendations pass 9-0 (Guelph trustee Mark Bailey is not present tonight).

Chair MacNeil says this is been a long road for everybody, and offers appreciation for all the hard work put in.

tl;dr: The School Resource Officer is done, but there will still be police presentations (with advance notice and vetted by the Presentations in Schools Guidelines), and schools will collect feedback from students afterward. 1/2

The board will also continue with the Violence Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA) Community Protocol, and police will continue to work with the board on foot safety patrol training and bus patrol training. Board admin will also collect data on all police incidents at schools. 2/2

On the COVID-19 update, Busuttil asks if there's been exploration of take home tests. Superintendent Slater says it's not been discussed.

Foley/Edwards move the ratification of the Board's business, which effectively brings this meeting to...