An independent study examining the impact of police officers in Peel high schools has found their presence reduces student stress, risks of bullying and harm, improves attendance and makes teens feel safer and better able to learn.

Results of the study assessing the value of a Peel Regional Police program that places neighbourhood officers in schools found it is “overwhelmingly positive” for student well-being, says lead researcher Linda Duxbury, a professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business who specializes in workplace issues.

But opponents of police officers in Toronto schools say they have enough data of their own — in the lived experiences of youth who don’t feel safe or able to speak publicly and who say they feel undermined by the program.

Duxbury could not release details of the new Peel research, to be released in a major report this fall and funded through a federal research grant. It is based on feedback from 1,300 Grade 9 and 10 students at five diverse public and Catholic high schools, the eight Peel officers who work in them, and dozens of school staff and members of the community, she said in an interview Wednesday.

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The Peel report is wrapping up just as Toronto police are about to decide the fate of their nine-year-old School Resource Officer (SRO) program, which includes 36 uniformed police working in 75 schools.

Read more: Do armed, uniformed cops belong in Toronto high schools?

The Toronto Police Services Board will address the controversial issue at a meeting Thursday, amid growing calls from community groups and educators demanding an end to the program, which they say leaves the most vulnerable and marginalized students feeling targeted and surveilled.

Black Lives Matter, Education Not Incarceration, Latinx and Afro-Latin-America Abya Yala Education Network (LAEN) are among those calling for the program to be immediately abolished in letters to police and school boards, an online petition that has garnered more than 800 supporters and a social media campaign.

They argue that police in school hallways leave many racialized youth feeling unsafe. And they say undocumented students — who have a legal right to education — have described feeling at risk of being reported or questioned about their citizenship.

But heated debate over whether police presence is perceived as a form of relationship and community-building – which its supporters claim – or intimidation and enforcement has also highlighted the lack of an independent review of the program. Chief Mark Saunders told the board last month he was in the process of setting up a review, potentially by researchers at Ryerson University.

Duxbury says arguments against cops in schools are too often based on anecdotal evidence, but the Peel study will show that overall, students and school safety benefit.

“I think that if Toronto Police Services takes the officers out of schools, they’re going completely in the wrong direction in terms of building relationships with the community and actually doing something of value,” she said.

But her data won’t influence opponents like LAEN co-chair Andrea Vasquez Jimenez.

The Peel report will be interesting to see, she said, “but the bottom line is the lived experience of those students and youth who have advised us of their experiences and provided us with their stories of how they have been negatively impacted” by having police in schools.

“We still advocate for full removal of the program,” she said, adding that her organization is compiling its own research, in the form of firsthand stories from students.

Gita Rao Madan, who studied the SRO program as part of her recent master’s degree at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), said she doesn’t believe more studies are necessary.

She cited many groups expected to oppose the program at Thursday’s board meeting and the hundreds who have signed the petition as evidence that the program is detrimental to many students.

The voices of marginalized youth who may be too afraid or unable to speak out publicly but are coming forward through community organizations like Education Not Incarceration are crucial to consider, she added.

“I think it’s really important to think about what kind of data we consider to be valid,” said Madan.

“For me, success is ensuring that all students are supported, so if some students are saying they’re not supported by a program like this then it’s our responsibility to listen to those students.”

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But Duxbury hopes her research will provide an important missing piece for police and communities to consider.

She noted one significant difference between the two programs is that Peel has officers in all high schools, so specific schools don’t feel stigmatized — an issue that has been raised in Toronto.

The Peel study found the presence of an officer “significantly increases the likelihood” that students feel safe in school, which is paramount because research shows that leads to better learning and improves prospects of staying in school, she said.

The impact is most significant for young females and students who’ve been bullied.