The Greater Victoria School Board has presented the province with three draft safety plans after Education Minister Lisa Beare  if a ministry-approved safety plan was not in place by Jan. 6.

The move comes after the board removed school police liaison officers (SPLO) from schools in 2023, resulting in protests and concerns from  regarding an uptick in gang activity in south Island schools.

In September, the ministry ordered the board to create a safety plan in collaboration with regional policing partners, however, according to the board the order "appeared to remove elements of the board's statutory jurisdiction and assign it to the police."

The Conservative critic for education Lynne Block urged Beare to remove the school board on Jan. 7, saying the board has "refused" to collaborate with local stakeholders 鈥損olice and First Nations 鈥� though the board has repeatedly denied this.

鈥淭he board has submitted three separate safety plans to Minister Beare yet continues to dismiss her directives for proactive engagement with law enforcement and other key groups. 鈥淭hey have made their stance clear by defying the minister鈥檚 authority and ignoring the very community they were elected to serve," noted a news release from Block.

"Students are paying the price for this ideological standoff. It鈥檚 time for the minister to step in. I鈥檓 calling on Minister Beare to remove this board from office, appoint an official trustee under Section 172 of the School Act, restore police support in SD 61 schools, and refocus on what truly matters: educating students and ensuring their safety.鈥�

In November, the board submitted its first safety plan and, according to , Safer Schools Together reviewed the plan and found it failed to satisfy the requirements of the provincial order, though the board says their "concerns were insufficiently detailed in a number of aspects."

"The board does not agree that the minister has the jurisdiction to order that kind of broad and unidentified access to schools and existing school programming by another community agency, or to remove the board's statutory responsibility to exercise ultimate oversight over such a program," noted the memorandum.

In December, Beare appointed a special advisor to the board to help them develop a safety plan. According to the board, the advisor stated in an email that the SPLO program was not a requirement of a future safety plan.

On Jan. 6, the board put forward three draft safety plans. One of which was written by district staff and the advisor which included SPLOs, though the board says it failed to meet certain requirements set by the ministerial order.

The second was created by the board and only allows police in schools in emergency situations. And the third plan, which the board says best meets the requirements of the ministerial order, allows police in schools in a non-emergency capacity if the officers have trauma-informed and cultural-sensitivity training.

After the first draft was put forward, on Jan. 2. the board passed a resolution to revise the first draft with the advisor to meet the ministry requirements and to ensure that any non-emergency police presence at schools is either pursuant to existing policies, like educational programs, and to incorporate accountability and reporting mechanisms.

On Jan 3, special advisor Kevin Godden halted his work with the board because, according to the memorandum, he was "no longer willing to advise the board, as a result of the Jan. 2 board resolution."

The board has maintained that there has been a continued presence of police in schools regardless of the liaison officer program's cancellation, and they remain "valued partners in proactively managing safety risks, crime prevention, and crisis response."