Activists 'take to the streets,' demand Salem-Keizer reinvest SRO money

About 75 children, youth activists, and adults took to the streets Thursday, waving signs and marching to demand Salem-Keizer Public Schools reinvest money formerly used for in-school police into programs to help students.

The "Take to the Streets" march was organized by Latinos Unidos Siempre, a youth advocacy nonprofit in Salem that's been vocal about the issue of school policing for years.

LUS is calling on Salem-Keizer to permanently and fully reinvest the $1 million saved from ending the district's school resource officer contracts last year into resources such as mental and behavioral health programs that would help historically marginalized students, including LGBTQ students and students of color, director Sandra Hernandez said.

Community members have repeatedly testified during school board meetings about SROs, especially since the murder of George Floyd. The issue has been at the forefront of the conversation again following the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 elementary school children and two teachers dead.

Many, including those with LUS, continue to voice their opposition to any police or security presence in schools. But others argue they do not feel safe in the schools or do not feel safe sending their kids there without them.

Those who participated in Thursday's march gathered in the early evening at Roberts Structured Learning Center on State Street to put up signs and plant flowers, a nod to another symbolic garden they planted last year at the Salem-Keizer administrative offices on Lancaster Drive NE. The Roberts learning center serves students who have been expelled from other district schools.

Then they marched to the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center.

Organizers said the march was a visual representation of the school-to-prison pipeline, highlighting the fact that students of color, students from low-income households and students with disabilities are disproportionately likely to be given suspensions and expulsions, have school-related arrests and be put into juvenile detention.

There were no visible counter-protesters.

A few participants carried flags with rainbows or the phrase "End white supremacy." Many held signs with messages such as "Education not incarceration," "Lift us up, don't lock us out," and "Our schools, our funds. " Some had signs referencing Superintendent Christy Perry by name, followed by the message, "Reinvest, don't oppress." They chanted, "Money for schools ... not police."

"Right now, the superintendent pledged to reinvest $400,000 of the $1 million into mental health resources, thanks to our ongoing demands," Hernandez told the Statesman Journal. "The remaining will continue funding systemic policing."

LUS leaders listed remaining security personnel, surveillance equipment, expulsions and suspensions as examples of continued policing in schools.

Superintendent Perry told the Statesman the district added $1.4 million in social-emotional support into next year's adopted budget. This includes the $400,000 she authorized earlier in the year to add support at North and McKay high schools.

LUS activists want the district to set a cap on spending for physical security; end "zero-tolerance" policies, which often come with mandatory penalties such as suspensions and referrals to law enforcement for breaking the rules; and invest money into restorative justice practices, which typically bring together the people who caused harm and those who were affected to address the underlying issue and work on solutions.

LUS also wants a "transparent budget for security in the district," noting the district plans to invest $30 million in programs that support students, but the full SRO funds are not being taken out of security spending.

In December, Salem-Keizer announced it would spend $600,000 on nine new security staff positions and a supervisor, using more than half the money saved from ending the SRO contracts the year before.

Unlike SROs, security specialists are not employed by local law enforcement, are not armed and do not handle discipline in terms of referrals to police. Law enforcement officers still respond in emergencies.

At the time, there weren't any plans for the remaining $400,000. Because the money was part of a "security" line item in the approved 2021-22 district budget, district officials said then it had to be used in that category.

The school board earlier this month adopted the district's $1.36 billion budget for the 2022-23 school year, continuing to fund security specialists, though the remaining $400,000 was moved.

"Even while there is no more physical presence of police," Hernandez said, "systemic policing still pushes students out of school and often into the criminal justice system."

SK SEL by Statesman Journal on Scribd

Contact education reporter Natalie Pate at npate@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6745, Twitter @NataliePateGwin, or Facebook at Facebook.com/nataliepatejournalist.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Activists march in Salem, urge schools to reinvest SRO money