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Portland School Board Votes To Remove Police Officers From Schools

Tom Porter
/
Maine Public/file
The exterior of Portland High School, one of two schools in the city with school resource officers, seen in 2012..

After hours of lengthy debate Tuesday night, the Portland School Board voted to end its agreement with the city's police department and remove its two school resource officers.In recent weeks, hundreds of local parents, students and other community members have signed a petition calling for an end to the program, saying that police at school can cause fear and intimidation, particularly amongst students of color.

Recent analysis from the ACLU found that "black students are three times more likely than white students to be arrested at school."

Superintendent Xavier Botana told the board that after weighing those factors, he felt the district should remove school resource officers and use the funds to pay for professional development and additional supports that promote equity

"I believe that we will emerge closer to that ideal from the difficult conversations that are taking place today, and in previous weeks, on this issue," Botana said, "and by the work that we will need to engage in to revise our policies and procedures in response to this resolution."

While the majority of the board voted for the resolution, member Sarah Thompson pushed back, saying that the process had been rushed and hadn't brought in enough student input. She urged the school district to extend the SRO program and study it over the next year.

"There is the feeling that the board is not acknowledging and honoring, as well, a petition to keep the SROs, which now has over 1,000 signatures from Portlanders," Thompson said. "Why is their voice not worthy of considering a compromise resolution?"

Despite support for Thompson's alternative proposal from some students and teachers, it was ultimately voted down.

The majority of comments from parents, students and other community members were in favor of ending the program. But several students and parents said they supported SROs and wanted the program to be evaluated before any actions were taken.

Several other school districts in cities including Denver and Minneapolis have voted to remove officers from schools in recent weeks.