This is a guest post by Anita Lampel, co-chair of JUFJ’s Montgomery County Leadership Council and a leader of JUFJ’s working group to remove police from Montgomery County public schools.
On July 21, 2020 as part of the FY21 Budget Savings Plan, the Montgomery County Council took a vote whether or not to reduce by about 50% the number of police officers in schools (otherwise know as school resource officers or SROs). Four Councilmembers voted to reduce the number of SROs and five Councilmembers voted to maintain the status quo. JUFJ leaders wrote the following letters to thank Councilmembers Jawando, Hucker, Riemer, and Glass and to express our disappointment to Councilmembers Katz, Navarro, Albornoz, Rice, and Friedson.
To join the JUFJ working group focused on getting police out of schools, click the button at the bottom of the page and fill out the interest form.
August 24, 2020
Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Subject: July 21, 2020 vote on reduction of School Resource Officer Program as part of the FY21 Budget Savings Plan
Dear Councilmember Jawando, Council Vice President Hucker, Councilmember Riemer, and Councilmember Glass,
Jewish tradition teaches us that destroying one life is akin to destroying the entire world. All of the evidence shows that police presence in schools too often results in destroying the lives of children of color and disabled children.
On behalf of Jews United for Justice, we would like to express our sincere appreciation for your leadership in voting in favor of a reduction of the School Resource Officer (SRO) Program in Montgomery County as part of the FY21 Budget Savings Plan.
Along with our partners, we support your efforts to end the SRO program before students return to school buildings this year. We are reaching out to your colleagues who did not vote to reduce the SRO program with the following information, just a sample of the overwhelming data that shows that SRO programs are harmful to students:
- The Maryland State Legislature’s Blue-Ribbon Panel on The School to Prison Pipeline noted in its December 2018 report that: “SROs told us that they viewed increased arrests in schools as a positive result of their work. This perspective suggests a failure of training (including training in mental health, counseling, and the development of the teenage brain); a lack of priority given to de-escalation and conflict resolution; and insufficient appreciation for the negative educational and long-term outcomes that can result from treating disciplinary concerns as crimes and using force on students.” And, the Panel stated, “SROs never should be involved in student discipline or behavioral control of schoolchildren.”
- Montgomery County Public Schools adopted a restorative justice model of dealing with discipline issues at schools. This approach has shown extraordinary success in Baltimore, resulting in markedly reduced discipline issues and a parallel increase in attendance and other measures of success where it was implemented. Uniformly, this model is successful around the country.
- The data also shows overwhelming disparities in suspensions and expulsions for Black and brown children. With their ability to arrest and/or cite students, having SROs in schools is just another way to penalize students of color and disabled students.
As Councilmember Riemer said, the County Council created the SRO program and the County Council has the power to end the program. We look forward to your continued leadership on this issue so alternate methods of care and safety for students can be set up before their return to school buildings.
Sincerely,
Anita Lampel, Laura Nadel, and Phyllis Lerner
On behalf of the Jews United for Justice
August 24, 2020
Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Subject: July 21, 2020 vote on reduction of School Resource Officer Program as part of the FY21 Budget Savings Plan
Dear Council President Katz, Councilmember Navarro, Councilmember Albornoz, Councilmember Rice, and Councilmember Friedson,
Jewish tradition teaches us that destroying one life is akin to destroying the entire world. All of the evidence shows that police presence in schools too often results in destroying the lives of children of color and disabled children.
On behalf of Jews United for Justice, we would like to express our disappointment that you did not vote to reduce the School Resource Officer (SRO) Program in Montgomery County as part of the FY21 Budget Savings Plan.
Along with our partners, we urge you to vote to end the SRO program before students return to school buildings this year. Over and over again, the data shows that the SRO program is harmful to students:
- The Maryland State Legislature’s Blue-Ribbon Panel on The School to Prison Pipeline noted in its December 2018 report that: “SROs told us that they viewed increased arrests in schools as a positive result of their work. This perspective suggests a failure of training (including training in mental health, counseling, and the development of the teenage brain); a lack of priority given to de-escalation and conflict resolution; and insufficient appreciation for the negative educational and long-term outcomes that can result from treating disciplinary concerns as crimes and using force on students.” And, the Panel stated, “SROs never should be involved in student discipline or behavioral control of schoolchildren.”
- Montgomery County Public Schools adopted a restorative justice model of dealing with discipline issues at schools. This approach has shown extraordinary success in Baltimore, resulting in markedly reduced discipline issues and a parallel increase in attendance and other measures of success where it was implemented. Uniformly, this model is successful around the country.
- The data also shows overwhelming disparities in suspensions and expulsions for Black and brown children. With their ability to arrest and/or cite students, having SROs in schools is just another way to penalize students of color and disabled students.
As Councilmember Riemer said, the County Council created the SRO program and the County Council has the power to end the program. We urge you to act expediently, so alternate methods of care and safety for students can be set up before their return to school buildings.
Sincerely,
Anita Lampel, Laura Nadel, and Phyllis Lerner
On behalf of the Jews United for Justice
Anita Lampel (she/her/hers) is co-chair of the Montgomery County Leadership Council and a leader of JUFJ’s working group to remove police from Montgomery County public schools.
