Will police be returning to patrol Ontario schools where they are not wanted? [Video]

New legislation could allow a police presence at all Ontario schools, even those where they have been told they are not welcome.

As part of sweeping changes to the province’s educational system, the Ontario government said it will order school boards to implement the School Resource Officer (SRO) program in areas where the service is offered by police departments.

The move comes several years after some school boards scrapped a similar program after complaints that officers frightened racialized students and over accusations that Black students were disproportionately being targeted for investigation.

Police departments in jurisdictions where the SRO program was eliminated, such as Toronto, Hamilton and Peel Region, have not yet indicated if they will make officers available.

Some school boards in the province have continually maintained the program.

Introduced today (May 29), the SRO plan is one aspect of the Supporting Children and Students Act, designed to give the …