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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter to City of Ottawa Mayor and Council re School Resource Officer Program Office of the Chair of the Board 7 July 2021 Mayor and Council City of Ottawa 110 Laurier Street West Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1 Mail Code 0101 Jim.Watson@Ottawa.ca Citycouncillors@Ottawa.ca Yusra Osman Anti-Racism Specialist City of Ottawa 110 Laurier Street West Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1 antiracism@Ottawa.ca Good Afternoon, As you may be aware, in September 2020, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) initiated a comprehensive review of our policy and practices with regard to police involvement, including the roles of School Resource Officers, in OCDSB schools. Extensive consultation was carried out, and a report from our Human Rights and Equity Advisor was presented to the Board in June 2021, indicating that explicit and deliberate actions are urgently required to address inequities in our systems, structures, policies and practices that continue to impact student and staff success and well-being. There is a pressing need to build trust with students, families, staff and communities that we have been under-serving. The report outlined the impact of police presence in OCDSB schools and was intended to inform progressive changes to the OCDSB’s policies and practices. After reviewing the report and hearing from our students and the community, the Board was impelled to act immediately on some of the recommendations, culminating in a multi- part resolution approved at its meeting of 24 June 2021. Concurrent with the OCDSB’s decision to end its engagement with the School Resource Officer Program provided by Ottawa Police Services, the Board directed me to write to you to recommend that any savings accruing from a reduction in police services to OCDSB schools be redirected to the development of alternative approaches to youth crisis intervention in collaboration with community partners. I would also appreciate an opportunity to meet with you to further a conversation on how we can move forward together to develop and incorporate new approaches to better serve our students and our communities as the OCDSB continues to review its own policies and practices. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Lynn Scott Chair, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board cc: Peter Sloly, Chief, Ottawa Police Services Trustees, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Senior Staff, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Corporate Records /!-- This code was added to remove the metadata from document view in Weblink -->