Sacramento Unified should vote to invest in Black children, not campus police

As we reflect on the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Stephon Clark and so many other Black lives at the hands of police brbutality, we are once again reminded of the many structural systems that disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities. School districts are no exception.

Student Board Member Olivia Ang-Olson and community members have demanded that our oard to take action. As school board leaders, we must ask ourselves: how we contribute to the systemic problem, and what is our responsibility towards a solution?

Two years ago, a report commissioned by the Greater Sacramento NAACP highlighted the high and disproportionate suspension of Black boys and young men in Sacramento County public schools. As a response, the African American Achievement Task Force was created to provide recommendations to the school board.

One key recommendation is to end the contract with the Sacramento Police Department and redirect funds to hire counselors and mental health professionals. Students and community leaders have also asked us to reimagine school safety though a different lens, one that is rooted in addressing the social emotional needs of our students and prioritizing limited resources for preventive and social and mental health services.

Unfortunately, the board has done the opposite. It has extended the contract and thereby reinforced the notion that school safety relies on having police officers in our schools. This must change.

For decades, school districts across the nation have depended on law enforcement to address social inequities that our very own system has produced. Yet, there is no direct evidence that police presence in schools increases safety. While individual positive experiences with school resource officers (SROs) may occur, they do not outweigh the fact that institutionalized racism is ingrained in the criminal justice and law enforcement systems. Antiquated ideas of school safety are furthering the school-to-prison pipeline in Sacramento and across America.

We believe school safety is the collective responsibility of everyone within a school community. We must reimagine, together, a world where schools are not dependent on law enforcement. We must invest our limited funds in hiring nurses, social workers, and counselors, as the need is dire.

Nationwide, 1.7 million students are in schools with police officers, but no counselors; 3 million students are in schools with police officers, but no nurses; 6 million students are in schools with police officers, but no school psychologists; and, 10 million students are in schools with police officers, but no social workers.

As we reopen our schools from the pandemic, our students will return with immediate and heightened social and emotional needs and trauma that will need to be addressed. Today, we have one nurse for every 3,600 students. Our neighborhood schools must support the whole student and ensure that every dollar yields higher return on investment – higher academic achievement and student wellness.

Soon we will have another opportunity to show that we, as a district and as a obard, are willing to enact change that students and community members call for.

Courageous conversations on racism with our students, families and communities are important, but they are not enough. We ask our colleagues to be bold in their actions and vote to end our contract with the Sacramento Police Department and invest in Black minds and Black lives. If not now, then when?