BC human rights commissioner calls for study on school police liaison officers after Victoria School Board firing

Firing the entire elected Victoria School Board for refusing to include school police liaison officers (SPLO) programs in the safety plans it submitted to the ministry effectively made SPLOs “mandatory” in BC schools, says BC’s human rights commissioner.

‍ In a letter to Education Minister Lisa Beare and Public Safety Minister Garry Begg, Kasari Govender said the province has failed to fund research to back its approach to SPLOs, which she said runs “contrary to its human rights obligations.”

She also argued that decisions about SPLO programs “must remain within the jurisdiction of individual school boards,” and that the province has “undermined” its own statements about school board authority.

Since 2021, Govender repeatedly has called for a review of SPLO programs. In a study released that year by her office, she called for school boards to end all programs “unless they can demonstrate an evidence-based need for them that cannot be met through other means.”

The report says civilians with experience in counselling, coaching, and a trauma-informed approach to preventing bullying or substance use should take over the “psychosocial and educational roles” of SPLOs.

Govender said ending SPLO programs does not mean limiting the police’s ability to handle “emergencies, investigations, or responses to criminal activity” in or around schools.

“On the contrary, enforcing the law is an appropriate role for the police,” Govender wrote.

The Victoria School Board ended its remaining SPLO programs—VicPD jettisoned its program in 2018 citing lack of funding—in 2023. The board referenced Govender’s call for evidence-based reasoning as a primary factor in its decision. The other main factor was a survey the board conducted, which suggested a significant number of students and staff felt uncomfortable with the presence of SPLOs. The board also was concerned with the lack of oversight of officers’ activity in schools.

Govender wrote Mike Farnworth—BC’s public safety minister at the time—in July 2023, saying the government was actively choosing to ignore her calls for research.

“Given the resources at your disposal compared to the cost of a single research project, I consider this an issue of will and not of funds,” Govender wrote. Farnworth responded eight months later saying the province had “limited resources” for public safety research.

Limited data available shows no clear need for SPLOs

VicPD began calling for the return of SPLOs last year, citing a rise in gang activity and recruitment on school grounds. VicPD Chief Del Manak wrote in a Feb. 2024 statement that “most schools” in Greater Victoria have students involved in gang activities. VicPD said in a release that one arrest made last March was connected to gangs on school properties.

However, Govender says the proof of said gang activity has not been made available.

Govender wrote “misinformation, misunderstanding, fear-mongering and tenuous claims” have muddied the debate about the SPLO program’s value.

Police data collected by the BC human rights commissioner show “no clear correlation” between the alleged increase in gang activity in schools and the end of SPLO programs. Call data for Victoria and Esquimalt police show that between 2015 and 2024, callouts to elementary schools in School District 61 (SD61) remained the same, and callouts to high schools decreased.

“If the Ministry or Police Board has data in their possession demonstrating that there is an increase in gang or other criminal activity in schools or how the apparent increased gang activity in the school district is related to the presence of SPLOs—including to the cessation of the Victoria and Oak Bay SPLO program—I urge you to release it,” Govender wrote.

Govender also pointed to recent VicPD data showing an overrepresentation of the use of force on Indigenous and Black people. She wrote that this and similar provincial policing data prove that “Indigenous, Black and other racialized children are witnessing their communities be disproportionately impacted by negative interactions with police—and therefore may themselves have well-founded fears about the police.”

First Nations criticize school board

Govender said school boards need to engage with local First Nations, and that Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations were right to call out the Victoria School Board’s lack of collaboration with the nations.

In December, Songhees and Esquimalt chiefs wrote to Beare condemning the board’s failure to consult with First Nations, starting with the 2023 decision to end the SPLO program without engagement. Around this time, Kevin Godden was appointed to the role of special adviser to help the board create a new safety plan after Beare dismissed its November draft plan.

Godden says he worked with police, First Nations, and other school stakeholders to develop a plan—which included SPLO programs—but the board refused, maintaining police should only interact with schools in emergencies or for occasional special presentations. Godden quit his position soon after.

On the day the school board was fired, it was announced Godden would return to the special adviser position to work with Sherri Bell, the new official trustee appointed to oversee SD61 until the 2026 fall election.

Bell and Godden have been instructed by Beare to complete and implement new safety plans.