Sparks flew at the Waterloo Regional District School Board (WRDSB) meeting Monday as two trustees desperately tried to convince their colleagues to reconsider their cancellation of the Student Resource Officer (SRO) program.
"We did not hear from our students and we did not hear from our police service," said trustee Mike Ramsay, reiterating his point from the previous meeting at which the committee studying the program presented a report and made the cancellation recommendation.
The Kitchener trustee said now that a week has passed and everybody has had a chance to give it some more thought, he would want his colleagues to consider postponing their decision for a year to allow for more consultation.
Ramsay expressed his displeasure at some of the comments made by his colleagues.
"Some of my colleagues, especially those that served on the committee, made some very inflammatory and unfortunate remarks with regard to connecting certain atrocities to the local police service and the SRO program," he said.
"There was some mention around what took place in very tragic circumstances in residential schools. One of my colleagues made a reference to the police removing kids from Indigenous communities. It was very embarrassing and unwarranted to be drawing that line and to connect those dots to what actually has been going on in schools with the positive relationship the school service has with the entire community."
Ramsay's request to postpone was backed by Cindy Watson, trustee Cambridge/North Dumfries.
"I know I don't have enough information," she said. "I'm really concerned that we didn't follow due process. I know that many of us expected we were going to get information from different groups, student trustees, parents and community members. I'm hoping there will be more thought given to consultation."
Watson referenced the Catholic school board data included in the staff report and talked about the high percentage of students that answered a question about the SRO program as a program that contributed to school safety.
"We don't know what that means to the students," she said. "I think that's something we as a board are obligated to unpack."
But all this, said Carol Millar, Waterloo/Wilmot, was not additional information that would compel her to rethink her stance.
Ramsay said he could give additional information.
"I did hear from frontline educators over the last number of days and I heard from members of the community that live in the systemically neighbourhoods," he said. "One member of staff emailed me, and I talked to the teacher on the phone. She told me she tried to volunteer on the committee and she was interviewed by one of my colleagues that opposed the program right from the get go.
"One colleague took it on himself to call up this frontline worker to find out her views on the SRO, and as soon as she said she had positive thoughts...," Ramsay continued, but before he could finish his sentence, Scott Stager Piatkowski, vice-chair and trustee for Waterloo/Wilmot, invoked point of personal privilege.
"This is not what happened. My intervention is being misrepresented," he said.
Ramsay said he had never named the colleague but continued.
"This teacher said 'it was a sham process that committee went through,'" he said, adding, "Had I known that all that was going to take place was a loading up of the committee with activists that were against the police, I would have gone out been an advocate for educators that had a positive point of view. It's about hearing the other side.
"That did not happen. It shows a flaw in the process," Ramsay said.
Jayne Herring, trustee Cambridge/North Dumfries, again pointed out that this is not new information.
Ramsay was surprised to hear that.
"Are we saying that what we're hearing from frontline workers is not new information?" he said, and he went on, "That kind of condescending attitude from trustees..."
At that point, chair Joanne Weston cut him off and called the question for which Ramsay asked for recorded vote, which indicated that a majority of the board was in favour of cancelling the SRO program.
