After looking at the results of a commissioned review, Louis Riel School Division has voted to end the School Resource Officer program, which spanned 40 schools in the division.

As APTN reports, "feedback from staff, students and families, including BIPOC students said they felt uneasy with the presence of an officer. It led the school division to use the money for the SRO program on a new diversity and anti-racism initiative. LRSD priorities include implementing a curricula review emphasizing anti-racism and decolonization and adding an anti-racism education office to address issues of systemic racism among others."

The board of trustees, however, has voted to keep the results of their review to themselves, in spite of a previously stated commitment to sharing these findings publicly. Where school divisions across the country continue to cite biased and methodologically unsound reviews to justify a police presence in schools, the Louis Riel School Division review has the potential to reduce harm to students throughout Winnipeg and Canada.

Contact Louis Riel School Division today and demand the release of the SRO program review!