The Grand Erie District School Board is apologizing for what it says is a miscommunication involving a police officer and career day at a school.
A newspaper column by Postmedia’s Brian Lilley and reports on social media said a Grand Erie school board superintendent had told a parent, who is also an Ontario Provincial Police officer, that they couldn’t attend career day.
The officer/parent was reportedly told that immigrant and refugee children often have had bad experiences with police and encountering one might traumatize them.
“A newspaper column and social media accounts have reported that a parent who is a police officer was not able to participate in a career day at a Grand Erie school,” the board said in a statement issued on Tuesday. “While we have concerns with some of the details in these reports, we want to acknowledge that the initial communication to the parent was not correct.
“We apologize unreservedly for this miscommunication.”
One law enforcement official familiar with the situation said the board’s statement doesn’t address an important question – whether or not the officer/parent could attend career day in uniform.
According to the source, who asked not to be identified, the parent/officer was told he would only be welcome if he didn’t wear his uniform.
The board said, in its statement, that the parent was told directly that a mistake was made and that the parent was welcome in the classroom.
“As a board, we value the work and dedication of police officers, and as parents, they are welcome in our schools,” the board said in its statement.
The board also refuted reports that the One-Stop Grad Shop had been cancelled, saying the program is going ahead as planned.
The program, which was started by a Brantford police officer, provides donated formal wear and accessories to graduate Grand Erie students.
The board said that its statement will be its only communication on the situation to protect the privacy of the student involved.
Although the grad shop program will go ahead as planned, the source said officers were told not to wear their uniforms.
— with files from Postmedia
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