Chicago school board votes to remove uniformed police officers from schools

The Chicago Board of Education voted on Thursday to finish its contract with Chicago police and remove uniformed officers from town’s schools.

The vote got here on the finish of a virtually eight-hour school board assembly through which lecturers, college students and elected metropolis officers spoke.

The battle on whether or not to hold the uniformed police officers within the 39 metropolis schools the place they proceed to patrol, out of 634 schools, has been happening since police had been assigned to defend the schools in 1991.

Some college students informed school board members that police within the schools scare them.

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The principal at Chicago’s Taft High School reportedly shared considerations in regards to the potential determination, saying pupil and employees security is paramount. (Google Maps)

Supporters of eradicating police from schools stated the officers focused minorities and didn’t make schools safer.

Instead, the identical supporters steered the cash spent on police patrols could possibly be higher spent.

Opponents of eradicating police from schools declare the officers made the schools safer, telling board members it needs to be up to the person schools to determine whether or not to have uniformed police on the premises.

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Chicago Public Schools voted to remove school useful resource officers from the 39 schools the place they nonetheless patrol. (Getty Images)

FOX 32 in Chicago reported that when the board solid their votes, it was in favor of a brand new “Whole School Safety Policy,” which eliminates using school useful resource officers.

The official plan will probably be introduced to board members for ultimate approval over the summer season, and if permitted, it goes into impact subsequent school yr.

“We want to be clear that many schools will still employ physical safety personnel like security guards at points of entry, and crossing guards and Safe Passage workers to ensure students can get to and from school safely,” the board stated within the letter obtained by the station. “Some schools will also continue to use physical security tools such as security cameras or metal detectors. Furthermore, each school will still maintain a relationship with their local Chicago Police Department ‘School Sergeant,’ a position assigned to each police district to provide safety support to schools.”

The board additionally reportedly stated within the letter the funding used for uniformed officers in schools will probably be reallocated for “alternative safety positions, resources, and interventions,” like restorative justice coordinators, youth intervention specialists, wrap-around helps and mentoring applications, and extra.

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Chicago Police officer in uniform.  (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service by way of Getty Images / File)

Earlier in January, the Chicago Board of Education was reportedly looking for to strip Local School Councils, organizations made up of oldsters, lecturers, and college students, of their energy to select whether or not to have SROs at their schools. After taking the choice away from native councils, the board will remove all officers from school grounds, in accordance to native outlet WBEZ. 

Alderman Nicholas Sposato had reportedly already been informed that CPS wouldn’t decide out of renewing its contract with the Chicago Police Department.

The Illinois Policy Institute, a assume tank that tracks coverage selections within the state, stated, “Local School Councils already have the power to remove officers, but district leaders are taking away that local control.”

The Chicago Teachers Union, (CTU) advocated for police officers to be eliminated from schools in 2020, amid the George Floyd protests. 

“These students along with the parents, teachers and staff that support them have looked at the data, experienced the brutality and are calling for police-free schools,” the CTU stated in a press release in June 2020.

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Some schools opted to remove officers from their premises in 2020. William Taft Howard High School was among the many few that voted to hold them.

William Howard Taft High School is considered one of 151 excessive schools in CPS and serves over 4,000 college students. CPS presides over 646 schools and 300,000 college students.

For News Digital’s Joshua Q. Nelson contributed to this report.