MILWAUKEE — Yet another deadline to get school resource officers (SROs) in Milwaukee Schools will be missed.
A judge ordered the officers to be in schools by Thursday, Feb. 27, but according to documents filed by the city Tuesday night, that mandate is not legally possible.
In a letter to the judge, City Attorney Evan Goyke says the job listings have been posted, and once the SROs are hired, they must be trained by the National Association of School Resource Officers before they can work with students.
The city and MPS board are working to pass a memorandum of understanding that 25 officers will be in place as soon as legally possible.
The Common Council will begin the process of voting on the memorandum of understanding between the city and the school board on Feb. 28, and on March 3, applications will close for new officers.
Police have not been stationed inside MPS buildings since 2016. Then, in 2020, after years of student activism, the district ended its contract with the Milwaukee Police Department. In 2023, a state law that allowed Milwaukee to implement a sales tax mandated MPS put officers back in schools.
That was supposed to happen by January 2024.
WATCH: City of Milwaukee asks judge to delay school resource officer deadline
People we talked to Wednesday had mixed feelings about officers in schools.
“It gives me a little extra sense of security, not a lot, knowing that someone is there with them,” Latoya McMillian, an MPS parent, explained.
Meanwhile, Cathy Wanzo, a substitute teacher at MPS, is not on board.
“I think MPS has other uses for those funds, better uses for their money,” Wanzo said.
The city and MPS board will be back in front of a judge Thursday morning. That’s when we will likely learn if this new delay will hold up in court.
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