The Chicago Board of Education unanimously approved a new whole school safety plan, which brings to an end the use of school resource officers (SROs) inside district buildings following a yearslong review of CPS safety protocols and procedures.
School Resource Officers
As Chicago Public Schools prepares to eliminate resource officer positions districtwide, a new study found removing police from city schools has not led to increased disciplinary issues, nor did it make students and staff feel less safe.
As Chicago Public Schools moves to fully remove police officers from its buildings, education officials are planning a phased-in approach to its new school safety plans.
Parents, students and community stakeholders have until this week to complete the school district’s whole school safety survey and voice their opinions as CPS prepares a new holistic approach to school safety districtwide.
In a unanimous vote last Thursday, they decided to eliminate uniformed police officers from the 39 public high schools that still have them.
The seven-member board unanimously approved the resolution, which directs CPS CEO Pedro Martinez to implement a new whole school safety policy, which “must make explicit that the use of SROs within District schools will end by the start of the 2024-2025 school year.”
A new resolution from the city’s Board of Education directs Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez to enact a new whole school safety policy, which “must make explicit that the use of SROs within District schools will end by the start of the 2024-2025 school year.”
Speaking Wednesday before the Economic Club of Chicago, Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said police officers will always have some role in school safety, even if they’re no longer working inside schools.
Selections include head of a local education advocacy group, special education advocate
Brandon Johnson announced that Jianan Shi, the executive director of Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education since 2019, will serve as the board’s president after former president Miguel del Valle stepped down after his term expired last week.
The district’s budget for the 2024 fiscal year will contain $4.8 billion in school-level funding, which officials said is an increase of more than $240 million over last year.
Austin High School will remove one of its two school resource officers, while Marshall High School has voted to remove both of its SROs. Even so, the contract total will actually increase slightly due to increased salaries for the CPD officers assigned to schools.
The city’s Board of Education on Wednesday will vote on a one-year, $10 million contract renewal with the Chicago Police Department that would allow it to provide school resource officers in several Chicago high schools.
Chicago Public Schools said it expects to begin publishing student discipline and safety data in the coming weeks, a year after dozens of high schools voted to reduce or eliminate their school resource officer (SRO) programs.
Some Chicago public schools will retain their resource officers, following a split vote by the Board of Education to approve a one-year, $11 million contract with the Chicago Police Department.
The Board of Education will vote this week on a one-year, $11 million extension to continue its school resource officer program despite an ongoing push from some students and advocates to have police removed from schools.
Whether to keep cops in schools has been a controversial subject for years. With Chicago Public Schools back in session, we hear how some high schools made the choice to remove or maintain the police presence in their hallways.
