VSB Trustee Suzie Mah: Stop the cuts to Vancouver’s Safe and Caring Schools program

VANCOUVER, BC – COPE School Board Trustee Suzie Mah is calling for a stop to the cuts to the Safe and Caring Schools Program in Vancouver schools. 

"This program provides critical mental and social health supports for our youth at risk,” said COPE VSB Trustee Suzie Mah. “The people who work with these youth are educators, and now more than ever we need these professionals and their knowledge for dealing with mental health issues, as well as at-risk and marginalized youth.” 

The draft Budget for the Vancouver School Board calls for the elimination of the Safe and Caring Schools program’s central support staff, who are educators trained to work with our students. 

“Police officers are not educators and they cannot and should not provide this service to our students,” said Mah.

The Safe and Caring Schools department was created following the April 2021 VSB vote to end the School Liaison Officer program. In November 2022, the Board passed a motion to reimplement the School Liaison Officer program – with an understanding that the Safe and Caring Schools staff would work alongside the police officers in schools in addressing youth at risk. A review of the program remains in progress. 

"Why get rid of a program before we even complete a review? That’s not evidence-based policymaking and it’s not the right thing to do – especially right now," added Mah. 

Trustee Mah will bring forward an amendment to reinstate this program’s budget and stop these cuts to the Safe and Caring Schools program at today’s School Board meeting about the 2025-2026 Budget. The meeting begins at 5 p.m. and is open to the public and can be watched live online. 

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To arrange and interview with Trustee Suzie Mah, please contact suzie@copevancouver.ca.  

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Background and Rationale 

In April of 2021, trustees voted to remove the School Liaison Officer Program effective at the end of June and in its place, a new department, Safe and Caring Schools was created.

“The department’s vision is to educate, prevent and provide intervention services for students, staff and families related to school and student safety. Safe and Caring Schools will work alongside the counsellors, students, their families, and community groups to support student well-being and their success.”  (Source: VSB website)

In November 2022, the Board passed a motion to reimplement the School Liaison Officer Program. The motion garnered considerable media and public attention. When the motion was passed, there was the understanding that the Safe and Caring Schools would work alongside the police officers in schools in addressing youth at risk.

Safe and Caring School staff are educators or staff trained to work with our students. There is currently a review being done to assess the successes and challenges of the program. To date, there have been no recommendations with rationale for trustees to decide whether to continue or discontinue this program.

To withdraw centralized support through the Safe and Caring Schools program without a full assessment of the program’s efficacy is a hasty decision. The loss of this program could result in less coordination with educators and professionals who can support the mental health issues that go hand in hand with intervention as well as supporting their social and academic needs. This program could be a lifeline for some of our neediest students.

As trustees, we need to follow our own processes, and our decisions must be made by being informed and by considering all the implications. The SLO program was removed and then reinstated by trustees as governance decisions and the same governance process should be followed in removal of the Safe and Caring Schools Program.