Public school board alters stance on uniformed police officers

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board says it will now allow parents who are police officers to make presentations in schools wearing their uniforms.

In a statement the board said it reviews all requests from parents who want to wear a uniform to "assess the learning opportunity and consider it in the context of alignment with the board direction to have an emergency response-based relationship with police."

Parents who are police officers can attend career fairs, take-your-parent-to-school days and make class presentations in uniform, according to the board.

Last week, Ontario Minister of Education Stephen Lecce wrote a memo to all public school boards in Ontario stating they are expected to allow parents to wear their uniforms when appearing as guest speakers.

"Those school boards who are not allowing parents in their service uniforms are enabling division instead of bringing all segments of civil society together as we work to counter very real threats to communities across the province," Lecce wrote.

• School board to continue temporary ban on police uniforms despite growing criticism

The memo was in response to the public board's temporary policy requiring police officers to shed their uniforms when appearing as guest speakers in schools.

This policy came into effect in 2021 when trustees voted on a motion to end the presence of a student resource officer (SRO) in schools. All except one trustee voted in favour. The board decided then it would only engage with police as necessary to "meet its minimum statutory obligations under the relevant provincial protocols."

The board decided to pause official relationships with uniformed police officers in non-urgent scenarios while the parties figure out how to move forward.

In a statement, a board spokesperson said the direction from the ministry was appreciated. The director of education has also met with the head of the Ottawa Police Association and will meet with Ottawa police Chief Eric Stubbs.

"These conversations are an opportunity to work together to establish new protocols for police involvement in schools which focus on students, safety, and relationships of trust, respecting the community concerns raised during our police involvement in schools review," the board said.

The board is currently working on a new permanent policy, the spokesperson added

Parent complained to union about school incident

The issue came to a head earlier last month when a parent complained to the police union about not being allowed to wear her uniform or bring her police vehicle to an event about "community helpers" at her child's Grade 1 class. 

That provoked a response from Premier Doug Ford and Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, followed by Lecce's memo.

CBC News reached out to the chair of the board of trustees, Lyra Evans, who led the push for the temporary ban on uniformed officers in schools. She was not available for an interview.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board said it recognizes a need for education and to improve relationships between the Ottawa Police Service and certain communities, and uniformed officers are allowed to make presentations in schools. 

"Police officers doing school presentations may choose to be in uniform or in their civilian clothes at their discretion," the board statement reads. 

Both the French public board and the French Catholic board said they don't have uniform policies for visitors to their schools.