An ideological and material shift is taking place throughout Ontario’s K-12 education system — a shift reinforced by a new bill that the Ontario government introduced. This bill would require school boards to collaborate closely with local police services and implement school resource officer (SRO) programs.

SROs are police officers assigned to schools intended to maintain order and security while improving relations between police officers and the larger community. However, this shift represents a return to the status quo. It comes after school boards and police precincts across Ontario terminated their SRO programs nearly five years ago given concerns it made Black, Indigenous, and other racialized students feel unsafe.

Despite these concerns, for some this shift is a restorative measure given their initial displeasure with the removal of police from schools. But the problem is that SROs do not create safer school environments; instead, they bring diverse negative implications that impact outcomes for students.

The decision to reintegrate SROs into schools through provincial legislation is fueled by conversations about safety and community building. This is owed to discussions about a growing crisis of violence in classrooms.

Agreeably, the data supports the conclusion of a burgeoning crisis. Most recently, data obtained by Global News indicates that the number of violent incidents reported by school boards to the Ministry of Education has risen by 77 per cent since the 2018-19 school year. Indeed, SRO advocates interpret this as a driver to reintegrate SROs to protect students from bullying while fostering positive learning environments. Nonetheless, the rise in reported incidents more likely reflects simultaneous pressures: reduced funding, staffing shortages, larger class sizes, and the lingering shocks of COVID.

What we do know is that SRO programs are under researched internationally, while in the Canadian context, the bulk of research comes from Ontario schools. On a broader level, a 2008 study of a North Carolina SRO program found that it had little effect on school safety. And when SROs and principals were surveyed as part of the study, they both acknowledged that it did not create a safer school environment. In some cases, SROs merely foster a fearful and punitive environment. This is because SROs are not trained in adolescent psychology, youth conflict resolution, or how to work with youth with disabilities.

Another implication is that school administrators tend to over-rely on SROs for discipline. Reports from the Toronto District School Board and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board suggest this manifests through information sharing between SROs and school administration, leading to increased surveillance and labelling of youth. More troubling is that studies show that overreliance leads to higher referrals to the justice system — especially for minor offences like schoolyard fights. Empirical evidence across Ontario school boards indicates that this disproportionately impacts Black and racialized youth. So, this bill invalidates the experiences of Black and racialized youth, while perpetuating conditions that might contribute to the school to prison pipeline.

Considering these implications and causes for concern, this paradigm shift leaves us in a troubling predicament. Certainly, not all students, teachers, and parents have had negative school experiences with SROs. It can also be said that community relations with police officers, particularly in our inner-city schools, must be improved and require multidisciplinary approaches to do so, and limiting youth contact with police officers will not achieve this goal. However, what we are witnessing is a pivotal decision with significant financial and social implications being made despite the lack of data to support the move.

Reinstating SROs will not solve the crisis of classroom violence. It will only mask it. The real solutions are harder but far more effective: smaller class sizes, more trained staff, stronger mental health supports, and policies that keep students in classrooms and out of courtrooms. Ontario does not need a return to failed programs; it needs the courage to invest in what we know works.