Trio of proposed safety plans contemplate role of police in Victoria schools – BC [Video]

After removing police officers from its schools, the Greater Victoria School District has submitted a trio of proposed safety plans to the province in time for a Jan. 6 deadline demanded by the province’s education minister.

The move comes after Education Minister Lisa Beare rejected a previous plan in December, which the province had ordered in September.

The district scrapped its school police liaison officer program in 2023 over concerns police on school grounds were having a negative impact on Black and Indigenous students. The province subsequently demanded the safety plan, raising concerns about growing gang activity in schools and deteriorating relations with police.

In December, Beare appointed a special advisor to rework the district’s safety plan, and suggested the board could be replaced by a trustee if the safety plan was inadequate.

A draft plan spearheaded by the advisor, former Abbotsford School District superintendent Kevin Godden, is among the three plans put forward, but the board said …