Province pushes boards to bring back school resource officers

GUELPH – More police will soon be patrolling the halls of Ontario schools.

That’s due to new provincial legislation – and funds in the provincial budget – directed at school resource officer (SRO) programs.

SROs are assigned to schools where they have daily interactions with students and staff while looking into illegal activity. 

Ontario’s budget includes more than $41 million over the next three years for SRO programs, which provincial officials say reduce the risk of violence, promote student and educator safety, and foster trust and mentorship.

That follows the passing of Bill 33 in November 2025, which requires boards to implement SRO programs "where such programs are available.” 

UGDSB spokesperson Megan Sicoli told the Advertiser the board is working with local police to review Bill 33.

“We are pleased to build on the strong relationships we have with all of our police partners to continue to integrate their services into school communities and satisfy the requirements of Bill 33,” Sicoli stated in an email. 

Rockwood parent and UGDSB Black Parent Council member Nia James expressed deep concern about the impact police presence has on all students, but particularly Black, Indigenous, racialised, newcomer, disabled and 2SLGBTQIA+ children.

The UGDSB discontinued its SRO program in 2021, after hearing concerns from community members in 2020. Board officials said the decision was made to reflect an equity- and human rights-based approach. 

It was one of many boards to cut the program in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the international Black Lives Matter movement it sparked. 

The Wellington Catholic District School Board also reviewed its SRO program at that time, and opted to continue it. 

Sicoli said police presence in UGDSB schools includes, but is not limited to: "school community officers" presenting education and awareness information to students, providing on-site consultation for hold-and-secure and lockdown procedures, participating in violent threat risk protocol and responding to on-site emergencies.

Board officials would not say how school community officers differ from SROs and the OPP did not immediately respond to the Advertiser’s request for comment. 

In December 2024, UGSDB associate director Brent McDonald said he hadn’t seen any challenges or disadvantages to discontinuing the SRO program. 

James said evidence shows policing in schools is not an effective way to ensure children’s safety – and this was outlined at an event the council organized in October.

For example, an independent equity-based review of the SRO program at Winnipeg’s Louis Riel School Division found “at best, the SRO program is ineffective in its stated goals of ‘building relationships’ and ‘promoting safety and education.’

“At worst [it] negatively impacts the school space by making many students and parents feel unsafe and targeted." 

It’s not only the SRO program that raises alarm bells for some community members.

When police attend UGDSB schools to teach students about violence, James said it can be traumatizing for students, especially if the officers show up in uniform, with a gun holstered on their hip. 

According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), “Police presence and surveillance inside schools has a disproportionate impact on Indigenous, Black and other racialised students.” 

“Any decision regarding police involvement in school should be made only after carefully considering existing research and in consultation with all local voices, including parents, students, community members and organizations,” the OHRC stated in a 2025 report.

Education Minister Paul Calandra’s press secretary Emma Testani previously told the Advertiser  SRO programs "help foster positive relationships between students and law enforcement, ultimately making our schools safer.”

To reduce violence and increase safety in schools, James said “schools need to be funded in ways that support students.” 

That means more funding for teachers, support staff, social workers, educational assistants, mental health supports, student resources and after-school programming, not more funding for police, she said. 

Increasing police presence in schools is a step backwards, James said, adding, “It was harmful the first time, and will be this time as well.”