[FoxNews] The Chicago Board of Education voted on Thursday to end its contract with Chicago police and remove uniformed officers from the city’s schools.
The vote came at the end of a nearly eight-hour school board meeting in which teachers, students and elected city officials spoke.
The battle on whether to keep the uniformed police officers in the 39 city schools where they continue to patrol, out of 634 schools, has been going on since police were assigned to protect the schools in 1991.
Some students told school board members that police in the schools scare them.
FOX 32 in Chicago reported that when the board cast their votes, it was in favor of a new "Whole School Safety Policy," which eliminates the use of school resource officers.
The official plan will be presented to board members for final approval over the summer, and if approved, it goes into effect next school year.
"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 said in 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 also reportedly said in the letter the funding used for uniformed officers in schools will be reallocated for "alternative safety positions, resources, and interventions," like restorative justice coordinators, youth intervention specialists, wrap-around supports and mentoring programs, and more. |