Fresno’s Central Unified schools set to vote on campus police. Will students speak out?
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Hey everyone! It’s Lasherica, the engagement reporter checking in on this early Monday morning.
On Tuesday night, the Central Unified School Board will vote to add two officers to its middle school campuses, increasing the number of officers it has at its high schools and continuation programs.
Let’s think back to two weeks ago when Fresno Police discussed the benefits of the school resource officer program, first at a Central Unified board meeting on June 14, then the following night at a Fresno Unified board meeting.
Comments about the need for campus police in Central Unified came from educators in the school system asking for officers for their middle school campuses in the name of school safety and security. That’s the sentiment of their colleagues, middle school administrators, and community members surveyed through the Local Control Accountability Program survey on funding.
Trustee Yesenia Carrillo asked questions to ensure police are adequately trained to work with students and provide mental health support services and other student resources.
“I’ve heard very little from our students.”
But at the Fresno Unified School Board meeting, dozens of people spoke in opposition of school resource officers, arguing that “more police are not the answer.” Many board members’ questions were a direct reference to those public comments, such as police disciplining, punishing and/or criminalizing students, especially Black students, at disproportionate rates.
Fresno Police are providing school resource officers for Fresno Unified School District and Central Unified School District as it negotiates SRO presence at surrounding districts such as Sanger Unified.
School resource officers are supposed to build trust between law enforcement and the community while being mentors, mediators, and role models to the students they serve, Deputy Chief Mike Reid said about the program that he’s overseen for the last 20 years of his 30-year law enforcement career.
But the program’s effectiveness, a challenging but essential thing to measure, is highly debated as district staff from both Fresno and Central school districts say SROs make them feel safer while the student voices have been absent.
And as the community holds officers accountable for their training and actions in the school building, it’s not all on the officers’ shoulders, FUSD Trustee Veva Islas said.
Staff should be using FUSD resources, like mental health professionals, and implementing other methods to mitigate SRO involvement and ensure armed officers aren’t the only response to student misbehavior, she discussed.
Both FUSD and Central Unified school boards have made big-dollar investments in hiring more mental health professionals for their students.
The FUSD board voted 6-1 to add 15 officers and a supervising officer to middle school campuses on a phased timeline.
Now that a similar vote is about to happen for Central Unified School District, middle school students have an opportunity to be heard: at Tuesday’s meeting before the vote.
Whether in support or opposition to officers, board members and officers want that student input.
You can read how school resource officers hope their positive interactions with students can change the misconceptions of the program that’s meant to be about community trust and school safety.
In case you missed it, here’s how the Fresno Unified meeting went: As police return to Fresno middle schools, campus officers promise some big changes
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MORE FRESNO-AREA EDUCATION NEWS
Central Unified School District recognized employees who were nominated by colleagues for their work during the 2021-22 school year.
Staff Rookie of the Year: Baleigh Rowden, Secretary Receptionist at C.L.A.S.S., was nominated because she “immediately made a positive impact” from the time she started in August 2021.
Teacher Rookie of the Year: Hannah Brooks, Special Education Teacher at Herndon-Barstow Elementary, is a “true definition of selflessness,” her coworkers say.
Substitute Teacher of the Year: Angela Ibarra never hesitates to support students and staff at Teague Elementary.
Mentor Teacher of the Year: Wynema Campbell, English teacher at Central High School, was nominated by her mentee for working tirelessly to ensure they have the classroom support they need.
Association of Mexican American Educators’ Educator of the Year: Eddie Rodriguez, the Community Liaison for Madison Elementary, goes above and beyond his duties to provide resources for students.
Children, ages 1 to 18, regardless if they’re Fresno Unified students or not, can get free meals this summer. Youth can get meals in person at the Fresno Unified Summer Academy sites from 11 am to 1 pm until July 1 or get a grab-and-go breakfast and lunch at school sites every weekday between 8 and 9:30 am until August 12, except July 4.
The meal distribution sites are:
Addams Elementary, 2117 W. McKinley Ave.
Birney Elementary, 3034 E. Cornell Avel
Columbia Elementary, 1025 S. Trinity St.
Ewing Elementary, 4873 E. Olive Ave.
Figarden Elementary, 6235 N. Brawley Ave.
Lane Elementary, 4730 E. Lowe Ave.
Lincoln Elementary, 1100 E. Mono Ave.
Slater Elementary, 4472 N. Emerson Ave.
Fort Miller Middle, 1302 E. Dakota Ave
Hamilton K-8, 102 E. Clinton Ave.
Kings Canyon Middle, 5117 E. Tulare Ave
Sequoia Middle, 4050 E. Hamilton Ave.
Tehipite Middle, 630 N. Augusta Ave.
Terronez Middle, 2300 S. Willow Ave.
Tioga Middle, 3232 E. Fairmont Ave.
Wawona, 4524 N. Thorne Ave.
Yosemite Middle, 1292 N. Ninth St.
Bullard High, 5445 N. Palm Ave.
Duncan Polytechnical High, 4330 E. Garland Ave
Edison High, 540 E. California Ave.
Hoover High, 5550 N. First St.
Sunnyside High, 1019 S. Peach Ave.
WANT MORE EDUCATION NEWS? HERE’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING
Lasherica’s List
Dozens of California community colleges planning to offer remedial classes in violation of law, report says “At least one-third of California’s community colleges are still unnecessarily enrolling students in remedial math classes that can’t be used for transfer to a four-year university — a practice that could come to an end if new state legislation is signed into law, a new analysis found. | EdSource
Black Minds Matter: 2022 Fact Sheet “Data continue to show that Black families and communities value education and that structural racism impedes Black students’ success in California. Ed Trust–West urges local and state leaders and fellow advocates to use this updated fact sheet as a wake up call to do much more to support California’s Black students.” | Ed Trust–West
White Parents Rallied to Chase a Black Educator Out of Town. Then, They Followed Her to the Next One. “Cecelia Lewis was asked to apply for a Georgia school district’s first-ever administrator job devoted to diversity, equity and inclusion. A group of parents — coached by local and national anti-CRT groups — had other plans.” |
ProPublica
Campuses looking to offer housing for students and their children “Many California schools have long offered on-campus housing year-round for their students, whether they be student-athletes, previous foster youth, international students or just students who may not want to leave their college town during the summer and winter breaks. But missing from that list at most schools is housing all year for students with children.” |
EdSource
Rob’s List
FDA advisers back authorization of coronavirus vaccines for tots
Children younger than 5 — a cohort estimated to number at least 19 million — are the only group in the United States who still do not have access to coronavirus vaccination. Now, that is poised to change. | The Washington Post
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