SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It was standing room only Wednesday night as the Sacramento City Unified School District moved forward with plans to do away with school resources officers.
The issue isn’t solely a budget conversation. There is also a larger discussion about the role of officers in a school setting.
"So one of the challenges is that in urban areas where there are predominantly Black and Latino students, we are overly policed, which creates a pipeline to prison," said Carl Pinkston with the School Resource Officer Coalition.
Pinkston says there's a role for police on school campuses.
"Really egregious crimes that take place and impact the campus," said Pinkston. "But for things like willful defiance, where a kid decides he doesn't want to listen to a teacher? You don't need to call the police. A kid that gets into a tussle or pushing match? You don't need to call the police."
The idea is to shift things like disciplinary decisions back to the front office instead of police departments. Now the focus turns to how to better use the $1.5 million allocated for the School Resource Officer contract.
"I think that there is general recognition that we have to do more to think about school safety in a different model than what we've had in the past," said School Board President Jessie Ryan. "And that means asking what is the role of the school resource officer? What is the role of mental health prevention and how do we, as a community, craft an alternative safety plan that meets the needs of the community for years to come?"
Ryan was there in the room as members of law enforcement joined parents and educators in discussing how to better use that $1.5 million. The the next school board meeting is set for August 1.
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