It is the policy direction of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the Solicitor General that school boards and police services establish a protocol for the investigation of school related occurrences.
This document has been prepared for the following reasons:
- To assist in the greater safety and protection of students, staff, parents and community members in schools;
- To encourage constructive, ongoing, adaptive and responsive partnerships between police and the school community in areas such as violence prevention;
- To reinforce the importance of a coordinated and multifaceted approach on the part of schools and police in their interactions with parents and the community, in an effort to promote the well-being of students;
- To facilitate appropriate sharing and disclosure of information in accordance with privacy laws, including the Municipal Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Act (MFIPPA) and the Freedom of Information Privacy Protection Act(FIPPA);
- To promote joint consultation and partnerships between school boards and police services to maintain and sustain a positive, safe school climate;
- To ensure that the obligations and requirements of both the education and police systems are met;
- To ensure an equitable and consistent approach across a school board’s jurisdiction in the way police and schools respond to a school-related occurrence; and
- To promote and facilitate case by case conversations between police and school principals which assist in using the most appropriate response in:
- The use of Restorative Justice Conferences (Youth Criminal Justice Act – YCJA)
- The use of Restorative Practices and Progressive Discipline (schools)
- The reintegration of young persons
