SEATTLE — The Seattle Public Schools Board has postponed its decision on whether to reintroduce police officers to Garfield High School.
On Wednesday, the board decided to delay the vote to make the pilot program’s language clearer about the officers’ roles.
Some parents and students spoke in support the proposed one-year pilot program with Seattle police. It aims to bring a School Engagement Officer (SEO) to the campus to build relationships and respond to emergencies.
“We have been ignored and silenced,” said Rilan Springer, a former Garfield student. “There’s been no action so far to do anything to stop gun violence. Garfield’s kids are in danger every single day they go to school.”
Students made their case to district officials about the need for SEOs.
“I know that we need safety in our school because not only have I seen students hurting each other. I’ve seen an adult hurting students,” said student Jade Warren.
The district removed School Resource Officers (SROs) district-wide in 2020, and if they return, they will not be involved in school discipline and will not wear police uniforms.
“We need SROs in our school and we need police in our school, but we cannot accept the racist police officers and misogynistic police officers those who wish to hurt us,” Warren added.
Michelle Sarju, a Seattle school board director, highlighted the need for more information before moving forward with the pilot, “Back this up with effective research because at the end of this what we want to know- is this beneficial for students?”
Dr. Tarance Hart, the principal of Garfield High School, expressed support for the pilot program but urged for a timely decision, stating, “I want the pilot to sort of tell us a lot about what it can look like or and perhaps we find that this is not right for Garfield at the moment.”
The board has unanimously voted to postpone the decision until their next meeting on October 8th, with the possibility of an earlier vote if a special meeting is convened.
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