Victoria School Board’s Safety Plan Rejected by Education Minister

SD61 via Capital Daily

BC Education Minister Lisa Beare has rejected a safety plan submitted by the Greater Victoria School District (SD61) board, instead appointing an advisor to review the school board’s plan. The revised plan will be due on Jan. 6, and is expected to address issues related to the school board’s discontinuation of the School Police Liaison Officer (SPLO) Program in 2023. 

This September, former Education Minister Rachna Singh gave an Administrative Directive to the Greater Victoria School board to draft a safety plan. According to Global News, the plan was integral in “tackl[ing] gang activity and improv[ing] relations with police.” 

The plan was presented on Nov. 15, but after review by both the ministry and Safer Schools Together, a multinational organization that works to combat student violence, it was deemed inadequate.  Theresa Campbell, Safer Schools Together founder and CEO, expressed concerns about the depth of the school board’s safety plan. 

“While the school district’s safety plan provides some support for high-risk vulnerable youth and staff training, the plan is deficient in addressing key aspects of a comprehensive safety plan,” she said, according to BC Gov News. Campbell also highlighted the importance of solid relationships and collaboration with law enforcement, First Nations, and other community partners, which she said the original plan lacked.

Much of the debate over the plan’s effectiveness stems from the school board’s past decisions about safety in high schools. 

In early 2023, concerns were raised by the Greater Victoria Teachers Association that students – particularly those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or LGBTQ – were being negatively affected by SPLOs. In May 2023, after taking these concerns into consideration, the school board made the controversial decision to discontinue their SPLO Program.  

Before the program was cancelled, local police officers stressed its importance. “This program also allows us to deal with worrisome behaviours that are not criminal, but are beyond the capacity of school teachers and counsellors to manage,” Victoria Police Chief Del Manak commented when concerns were first raised in early 2023, according to CTV News. 

Greater Victoria schools are still experiencing the impacts of this decision, which has forced school counsellors to fulfill many of the responsibilities of police liaison officers. Mia Golden, a veteran counsellor, believes that contrary to the government’s beliefs, counsellors are no substitute for police liaison officers, according to Times Colonist. 

In July, Golden told the Victoria’s Police Board that “what has come up repeatedly is how the solution is to have more counsellors and less police. I’m a counselor. I, of course, believe in my profession. I think we do wonderful work, but it’s akin to asking an accountant to fly a plane. They are two very different professions.”

Over the next few weeks, the Greater Victoria School Board will work with Kevin Godden, a former superintendent of the Abbotsford School District, and the special advisor appointed by Beare. 

Following the announcement of Godden’s role, the school board released on Dec. 6 a statement “pledging to cooperate fully and immediately with the adviser,” according to Global News. In its statement, the school board said it would be working on revising the plan over the two-week holiday period. The statement recognized that “this is clearly a high priority for the School District and the Board, and we will report back again in early January as required by the Ministerial Order.”