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Here's something I was not aware of, if true.More than a month after Jefferson County Public Schools began the school year with no resource officers, board members sparred Tuesday over the best path forward in district security.
At issue is a plan for JCPS to create its own police force.
Following a split vote in August that resulted in resource officers being removed from all JCPS schools, board members pressured Superintendent Marty Pollio to fast-track plans.
Before that vote, JCPS said it planned to have a force of 50 officers in place by next August. Now, officials hope to have at least some of those officers hired this fall, deploying them in classrooms by Feb. 1, 2020.
During a Tuesday meeting at the district's central office, board members were divided over whether officers in a JCPS force should carry weapons or wear uniforms.
"Our students do not need to be policed," Joe Marshall, a teacher who represents South Louisville, said. "They need to be educated. They need to be protected."
Board vice chairman Chris Kolb, a vocal opponent of police in schools, said officers should not carry guns inside schools. He is "very nervous" about having someone in a school with a deadly weapon.
"The only thing that explains the number of gun deaths we have in the United States is the number of guns we have," Kolb said.
Board member Linda Duncan disagreed, saying school officers need to have guns to combat guns students bring into schools.
"If we put them in there with nothing, how do they take control of situations?" she asked.
"The guns are there ... Just because no one has shot one does not mean there is no danger."
While he doesn't want a gun to be a part of a uniform, Kolb is undecided on arming officers with non-lethal weapons.
If officers are assigned a uniform, board member James Craig hopes the outfits "fit into the fabric" of the school. He suggested khakis and a button-down instead of a standard police uniform.
"We are a school district," Craig, an attorney who represents eastern Louisville, said. "We are not a police force."
A school safety bill passed by Kentucky lawmakers last spring requires districts to assign a school resource officer and a mental health practitioner to each school. But the bill did not come with funding, so districts are not required to comply with the law until funds are provided to hire for those positions.
Research has shown that the presence of school resource officers contributes to the school-to-prison-pipeline, increasing students' chances of winding up in the criminal justice system.
The school-to-prison pipeline is especially harmful for black students, who are involved in a disproportionate amount of police-involved incidents at schools in JCPS and nationwide.
