Parents from St. Anthony’s Catholic School are asking Kincardine council to reconsider the choice to stop funding a resource officer at the school.
During this week’s meeting, Jonathan Jones from the Parent Council addressed the Kincardine mayor and council, asking they re-consider funding a liaison officer, because it was an invaluable resource for students, staff, and parents of the school.
During budget deliberations earlier this year, council decided to not provide the funding for a school resource officer.
Jones says that not having an officer at the school is a detriment for students.
“In financial terms, we appreciate that times are hard, we appreciate that cuts are necessary, and every little [bit] helps,” he said to council. “Looking at the $77,000 that council was kindly gifting our children, it seems like a relatively modest sum.”
When council decided to cut the funding for a resource officer at St. Anthony’s, part of the discussion by municipal council and staff included research that suggested that resource officers aren’t helpful in larger cities.
Jones says while that may be true for big cities, it doesn’t appear to be the case locally.
“We fully appreciate that research exists, which indicates a mixed picture concerning SROs in larger cities, such as Toronto or Hamilton. We believe this specific data does not apply here in Kincardine.”
Jones also said that the Parent Council appreciated that the funding cut for this year may not be a permanent solution, but that they were also open to alternatives to keep a resource officer at the school, even if it meant they’d be present less frequently.
Council received the presentation as information, but no further motion has been made.
