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The school district will no longer “buy or maintain criminalizing equipment” such as metal detectors. South Division High School, 1515 W. Lapham Blvd., is one of many area high schools that have walk-through metal detectors at the main entrance. (File photo by Andrea Waxman)
The Milwaukee Public Schools’ Board of School Directors on Thursday voted unanimously to end all but one contract with the Milwaukee Police Department and directed the school district not to purchase new security equipment such as metal detectors.
The district still has a $400,000 contract with MPD for a truancy program required by state law. The board is weighing its legal options as it considers how to keep the funds in the school budget.
Here are three things you need to know about the decision:
1. MPS has terminated all but one contract with MPD.
Until now, MPS has contracted with the Milwaukee Police Department to provide officers to act as School Resource Officers and provide event security. The contracts would have cost the district $478,242 during the 2020-’21 school year. On Thursday, the board voted unanimously to terminate contracts with the police department to provide School Resource Officers. The resolution was written by Directors Paula Phillips and Sequanna Taylor.
The contracts terminated by the School Board direct law enforcement officers to provide educational resources on such issues as alcohol, other drugs, laws, violence and crime prevention, as well as “the role of law enforcement in the educational setting.” The Police Department also consults with school administrators on matters of safety and security within the school building and provides security for large events.
Community members have argued that the presence of police in or around schools makes for an inherently unsafe environment for students, particularly students of color. Leaders Igniting Transformation, or LIT, a youth-of-color-led advocacy organization, has been organizing against a police presence in schools since its founding in 2017.
The school board’s vote “is a victory by and for Black and Brown students,” LIT executive director Dakota Hall said in a news release. “This resolution is the culmination of 2.5 years of work by LIT student leaders to defund police at MPS.”
Phillips said the concerns raised by students forced the Board of School Directors to evaluate, and ultimately, end the contract.
“Students kept saying over and over again that they didn’t want the police to be part of their educational experience,” Phillips said. “Even the police department put out a statement saying they understand why we would want to do this.”
The Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, or MTEA, the teachers union at MPS, also supported the board’s decision. MTEA President Amy Mizialko has also called on the city to reallocate its police budget to other services such as health care, housing and social services.
The Milwaukee Police Department received $297 million in funding from the city in its 2020 budget. This fact was not lost on Director Bob Peterson.
“The amount of money we’re talking about here is almost symbolic compared to the amount of money the city puts into the police force,” Peterson said. “Even if we were able to divest fully, that’s less than 0.002% of the police budget.”
2. MPS still has a state-mandated contract with police
MPS still has a $400,000 contract with the Milwaukee Police Department for the state-mandated Milwaukee Truancy Abatement & Burglary Suppression Program, or TABS. According to state law, a school district of MPS’ size must pay the salaries and fringe benefits of four law enforcement officers to work on truancy abatement and burglary suppression full time.
The board is studying ways to get out of this contract and is weighing its legal options. Board President Larry Miller, who proposed the idea, said he believes it may be possible to fulfill this contract without sending money to the police.
“I do not want to send this $400,000 to the police,” Miller said during Thursday’s meeting. “My thinking is that we do not spend this money until we get a judgment from our lawyers and have total clarity on whether or not we have to.”
3. MPS will not purchase new “criminalizing equipment” such as metal detectors
The district will not “buy or maintain criminalizing equipment” such as metal detectors. Phillips said existing equipment will be phased out as it eventually breaks down.
“We keep learning more about the psychological effects that this equipment has on our students,” Phillips said. “To me, why would we maintain something if we’re not sold on whether it should be in schools altogether?”
For Angela Harris, an MPS teacher and chairwoman of the Black Educators Caucus MKE, eliminating security equipment is important because it forces the district to find alternative methods to keep students safe.
“It allows the district, educators and students to begin having conversations about different approaches to safety, what safety will look like without metal detectors and hand scanners.” Harris said.
Director Marva Herndon voted in favor of the resolution but expressed concern that removing security equipment could endanger students and community members who use school property for large gatherings.
“We have a responsibility to our students and the public,” Herndon said. “We cannot throw those responsibilities to the wind.”
In case you missed it: Educators push MPS to end contracts with the Milwaukee Police Department
This is a giant step forward for the education of students in Milwaukee. No longer will there be a system of guilty until proven innocent. Policemen have a difficult job, but they are not trained to handle students. We need this money going to persons who are trained in counseling and sociology. Poverty is the root cause of the problem.
What a ridiculous action by the MPS Board, the Milwaukee Teachers Education Assn & “Leaders Igniting Transformation”, a student group following the violent philosophies of two convicted “cop killer” murderers- Assata Shakur & Huey Newton.
This is just another reason to abandon the public schools, especially for the better students, who need the opportunity to actually learn. It’s also another reason to abandon Milwaukee as a whole & the “go along” lunacy that passes for political leadership in this part of the state!
This could lead to very dangerous situations as the equipment breaks down, which is usually helped by students, but as we lose equipment, it’s going to be acceptable for basketball games to allow fans in the gym from all over the city, along with family members without being scanned for weapons? Sporting events can turn ugly in minutes, and you compound that with weapons….very bad situation. If it wasn’t for a walk thru scanner, we would not have known a parent was hiding a hammer on her, which she stated later it was going to be used to beat a school staff member.
You all caved and made your beds now the children will have to lie in it. Write down all these peoples names so when the first shooting happens we riot and burn down their houses Don’t you dare call the police when the bullets start flying
Milwaukee is a city I don’t even want to visit anymore. Looks like another failed policy for their already failing school system. Hope the police don’t even bother coming if called.
>>>The district will not “buy or maintain criminalizing equipment” such as metal detectors.<<>>We keep learning more about the psychological effects that this equipment has on our students<<<
Big deal. Deal with it. The equipment is not racist or biased. It's there for *everyone's* protection. So now if Johnny or Suzy bring a gun into a classroom, all you can do is tell them to sit back down in their seat?! Oh yeah, that's going to work out just fine.
Just commenting so that the comments are not all from racists with hyperbolic and absurd statements. This a great news and I am extremely proud of LIT and all the others who had a role in getting MPS to cut ties with MPD. Students should not equate education with metal detectors and police presence. For those who are saying we should “abandon” the city and public schools, bring your hate and ignorance elsewhere.
I didnt see any comments that were racist..no one said anything about any race. We fought to get safety equipment to help students and teachers feel safe do to a rash of school shootings. Many students of MPS I spoke to felt safer at school because of the resource officers and metal detectors, some even safer ar school then in there own home were gun shots throughout the neighborhood are just as normal as traffic noise.
Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. Maybe not MPS but children somewhere in this country will pay the ultimate price one day because their parents and others wanted to stand up against the big bad cops.