Fresno Unified trustees fail their students in approving police for middle schools

Our schools are failing students, and adults who are supposed to represent the best interests of our children are leading the way.

Six out of seven Fresno Unified School Board members recently voted to fund the placement of school resource officers in local middle schools to police 13- and 14-year-old children — advancing fear instead of doing the hard work of funding real solutions to ensure public safety.

It’s no surprise that most of the board voted to divert education dollars to fund a department that already receives the majority of the city of Fresno’s general fund after The Bee Editorial Board published its support for more cops on school grounds.

Funding fear ignores the real problem when it comes to creating safer schools. School resource officers have proven ineffective, and this decision will not make schools safer. After Columbine, school police officers became a staple at schools across the country.

Since 1999, the rise of school shootings has continued, but police have not prevented shootings or kept school campuses safe — look at the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. Rather than preventing crime, SROs in our middle school hallways will only fuel the school-to-prison pipeline.

Study after study has documented the link between SROs and increased arrests for noncriminal behavior — especially among youth of color.

Over the last three years, Black students have made up 20 percent of police-involved disciplinary investigations at Fresno Unified, even though they are only 7% of the student body. Black students also experience a higher rate of exclusionary discipline. Black students in Fresno are among the top three groups of students statewide who miss the most days of learning due to suspension. Data consistently shows a clear bias against students of color at Fresno Unified. More than $1 million of our city tax dollars and another $1 million of our education dollars now pay for these stark inequities.

Instead of using resources to fund fear, imagine if we used taxpayer dollars toward prevention. Imagine investments in counseling, mental health, de-escalation training for teachers, or other community-based solutions. Re-imagining public safety requires bold leadership and re-framing what actually creates safety.

According to Fresno Unified data, the school district has 141 guidance counselors. As a district of more than 74,000 students, this amounts to an estimated 496 students per counselor. We need prevention, not cops. Students should feel connected to their school, supported by the adults they interact with and valued by their community. Safety is created by belonging and having access to the tools and resources needed to achieve wellness.

Let’s imagine if we used tax dollars toward basic needs, like ensuring our kids have nutritious foods, creating healthy school cultures that make our children feel welcomed and valued, having adequate community-based support for young people to address behavioral issues, family stressors, and positive activities to engage in during and after school. Fresno Unified is set to receive just over $180,000 for two years from the new $3 billion California Community School Partnership. Imagine if we took all of these dollars and invested them directly in our students and their families.

Community-based solutions work. We have over-funded police for centuries, yet our collective safety has not improved. Shouldn’t our educators be the first to understand when an intervention has failed? Shouldn’t our educators lead new and innovative approaches to improve safety that increase educational outcomes?

The Fresno Unified board lacks the imagination and leadership that this generation deserves. It’s time for the adults to listen to young people and match their fearlessness.

Re-imagining how we can make schools safer requires informed decisions about how to properly allocate resources — not giving in to fearmongering.