Rochester, NY – In response to reports that Rochester City School District (RCSD) is considering reinstating School Resource Officers (SROs) in school buildings, members of the RCSD community released the following statement:
“As students in RCSD return to school after experiencing a global pandemic that completely disrupted families’ lives and routines, we should be met by loving and welcoming educators – not cops. The 2021 school year has started with half of the RocRestorative team and a fraction of other support staff due to direct layoffs and cuts. The Rochester School Board should prioritize increasing the number of restorative justice coordinators, counselors, social workers and paraprofessionals and completely reject the request to bring police into our schools,” said RCSD high school senior and community organizer, Max-Yamil Cabezudo-Brown.
“Rochester parents, students, and members of the community won a huge victory this past June when our tireless collective action led to police being removed from our schools for the sake of keeping all our students safe from abuse and criminalization. The attempt to bring SROs back, especially in secret, not only directly contradicts our wishes, but will take resources away from ensuring that our schools aren’t pipelines to prisons” said Cabezudo-Brown.
“Police should not be considered the first line of intervention when considering student and school safety, especially during this pandemic. There is no clear evidence that SROs keep students safer; in fact, they have been shown to disproportionately target Black and Brown students, pushing them into the school-to-prison pipeline. If RCSD undermines the previous decision by reinstating police in schools it will be on the wrong side of history and will be complicit in the criminalization our Black and Brown students will face at the hands of SROs” said RCSD parent and School Board candidate Camille Simmons.
“As schools work to figure out the safest way to bring students back during the pandemic, we demand: that RCSD not reintroduce SROs back into school buildings; that the district use the money to reinstate and expand the RocRestorative program; and that the 130 social worker positions that were eliminated last year be reinstated so that students’ social and emotional needs are effectively supported,” said RCSD parent Mary Callahan.