MILWAUKEE — Students are voicing concern about the return of school resource officers to Milwaukee public schools.
The district says it is gathering feedback from young people before moving forward with a state-mandated plan.
Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES) is one of the student groups who have been vocal about SROs in public schools.
Mariam Mackar sat down with two members to ask them their thoughts now that the state's mandate is bringing them back to their buildings.
High School juniors Addisyn Coates and Ares Farris say they have concerns with police officers returning to Milwaukee Public Schools.
“As somebody who has gone to a school with officers inside the building, I saw that it caused more harm than good,” said Coates.
Farris agreed. “For me personally, I feel like it would cause more issues,” he said.
Though a plan hasn't been released yet, a state representative confirmed with Mackar by next school year Milwaukee police will be in place in certain MPS schools.
So Mackar asked the high-schoolers what questions and concerns they had for this implementation.
“In the sense of safety, would the officers be allowed to carry?” asked Farris. “Will it be diverse officers? Things like that.”
Superintendent Keith Posley gave a progress update at Thursday night's school board meeting that left us with more questions than answers, like what schools will be impacted, who will be paying for SRO training, and when this is all taking place.
Despite that, on Friday Dr. Posley told TMJ4, “We are moving forward. We have engaged a number of stakeholders around the community around this program and just want to make sure that we're doing right by our young people.”
Consideration of students and allowing them a seat at the table is something Farris and Coates tell me they're grateful for.
“I do feel more comfortable because they’re giving us a chance to voice our opinion and listening to what we think. It makes us feel like we have more of a decision in this than we usually would.”
The two will join other students in YES to ask those questions and share their concerns with Superintendent Posley on March 7th.
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