'Safety coaches,' not resource officers, to roam Edmonton public school halls come fall
Police will not return to Edmonton public schools in the fall in the form of school resource officers.
Instead, the division is looking to hire people who work with youth, have cultural sensitivity and anti-racism training, and experience in risk assessment and suicide prevention to fill a new role it is calling safety coaches.
And if candidates are missing some of those qualifications, they'll be provided with training in those areas and more before hitting the halls in September, the school division says.
"It is not a law enforcement position, let me just be clear about that," superintendent Darrel Robertson told trustees Tuesday evening. "This is another set of adult eyes watching over our kids, building relationships with them, and looking to support their success."
The non-uniformed staff member, hired by principals ideally from the school community, will not have an enforcement role nor will they be solely responsible for the safety of the entire campus, Robertson said.
School resource officers were active in Edmonton public schools from 1979 until the fall of 2020, when the program was paused for review.
In the interim, EPS officers specializing in community policing and young people were available to schools on a call basis.
Robertson said the new position was designed from feedback from principals.
"We, about a year ago, had quite an intense conversation about school resource officers in our schools and this is such a far departure from what we used to have in our schools," board chair Trisha Estabrooks told CTV News Edmonton.
PROVINCIAL ASSOCIATION TO ASK FOR K-6 DRAFT REVIEW
At the meeting, trustee Michael Janz declared plans to bring in a motion that, if passed, would see the school board ask the city to add two referendums to the upcoming municipal election ballot.
One question would be about the province's K-6 draft curriculum, which Edmonton Public Schools and some 50 other divisions do not plan on piloting.
Earlier in the week, EPSB and Evergreen Catholic Separate School Division in Spruce Grove asked the Alberta School Boards Association to lobby the province for a delay, review and rewrite of the draft.
Estabrooks called the ASBA's decision to petition for a pause and review "a step forward," but its decision to not ask for a rewrite disappointing.
She said, "At the end of the day, the membership decided through really thorough debate – important debate – that rewrite language just went too far. That it was too strong."
But, she added, it became clear from the conversation that boards across the province shared her concern.
"I'm encouraged that we have our provincial association, ASBA, advocating for a delay. So it's my hope that that message can be heard loud and clear as trustees from across the province have come together to deliver that message."
Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange discussed the curriculum with ASBA on Wednesday, her press secretary, Nicole Sparrow, told CTV News Edmonton.
"We have always been clear that Alberta Education will also be engaging with Education Partners to gather their feedback on the draft curriculum," Sparrow said. "Recognizing the amount of time, and increased workload that this will create for the organizations, Alberta education will be providing up to $1 million in grants to support partner groups in conducting a consistent and coordinated engagement process with their communities so their unique perspectives can be heard and reported back to Alberta Education by January 2022.
The other topic Janz wants a referendum on is the government's new school funding model based on a weighted moving average.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.