When the Seattle Faculty Board voted in 2020 to take away police from faculties, the aim was to get weapons out of faculties and give attention to what really makes college students secure: sturdy relationships, psychological well being helps, and college cultures constructed on belief and respect.
The board wished to handle practices that disproportionately harmed Black college students, Native college students and college students with disabilities, and create environments the place each pupil might study with out concern of exclusionary self-discipline or criminalization.
Whereas the 2020 moratorium was by no means supposed to stop cops from coming into our buildings or interacting with employees as some other group member with college enterprise would possibly, our place stays: We don’t and won’t help armed cops being stationed inside Seattle faculties.
Seattle Public Faculties has been implementing commonsense security measures, similar to safe entry factors and visual identification for adults; elevated funding in SPS safety employees; and partnerships with organizations centered on violence prevention and interruption. Whereas we admire the efforts being made to enhance the protection of our buildings, dialogue of agreements with the Seattle Police Division has been a lot much less clear.
Any proposal involving police and our faculties should come earlier than the board in a public assembly and would require the board’s approval to amend coverage. The board’s function is to make sure that something we approve aligns with group values, state legislation and our district’s guardrails in opposition to disproportionate self-discipline.
We don’t oppose coordination with public security businesses when exterior threats come up. However we have now seen the harm performed when roles and tasks are unclear. Any settlement between our college district or one college and exterior businesses should meet clear requirements: Officers can not serve disciplinary roles, should observe our insurance policies and be answerable to highschool leaders, and knowledge should be collected to guage affect on pupil well-being and college safety.
Belief can be a part of security. Belief has been broken via covert conversations and combined messages about security plans and potential police partnerships, via misinformation and inconsistent follow-through on commitments, inflicting hurt and confusion. With out trustworthy collaboration, clear decision-making, and an unwavering give attention to our college students, we’ll proceed to wrestle with problems with security in Seattle Public Faculties.
Director Sarju voted “no” on the newest coverage modification proposal as a result of she didn’t belief {that a} ultimate memo of understanding would meet board expectations. Director Rankin voted “sure,” with the clear course that the district, Garfield Excessive Faculty and the town develop an settlement accountable to the calls for of the board and group for boundaries between SPS and SPD, or it could be rescinded. Whereas we fell on reverse sides of the vote, we share the identical aim: a district the place security implies that faculties shield and honor college students and their households, and are inclusive studying environments the place each baby feels secure and supported.
We name on everybody with affect over metropolis, district and police selections to heart the well-being of our college students and college communities. True security comes from connection, de-escalation, and restorative practices; from constructing belonging, not imposing compliance. Our kids, employees, households, and Seattle group deserve nothing much less.
