Worcester, Hiding Its Policy on Police in Schools

Worcester Is Hiding Its Policy on Police in Schools

A small group of parents, students, and activists met on November 18, 2015 to discuss the City of Worcester’s policy on the duties of police officers in public schools. Earlier in the year the City Council voted to put a full time police officer in each of the five Worcester Public High Schools.  The Worcester Public Schools and the Worcester Police Department are required by statute to define the policy regarding police in schools in a document called a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). So far no one from the City, not the Superintendent, not the Mayor, not the City Manager, or the Police Chief has responded to requests for the MOU.

During the discussion several people said that because the policy of full time police in schools was implemented in a panic based on false assertions that the schools were unsafe, there was no time to think through the legal requirements. The required MOU likely does not comply with State laws at this time. Mr. Pezzella, public safety liaison for the Worcester Public school, said in October 2015 that the current MOU is outdated and needs revision.

The Mass. Human Right Commission (MHRC), a nongovernmental organization, functioned as the umbrella from which the people in the meeting will advocate for justice for the students and parent. Although not officially representing their respective organizations, there were people from the NAACP, an UU Church, Progressive Labor Party, a Latino group, a student group, and a social agency.

Ruth Rodriguez, a local activist, gave background to the “school to jail pipeline”. She said that some in the corporate world were financing programs designed to have schools fail. The children would then be more at risk for incarceration and poverty.  She stated that Latino children are most adversely affected by suspensions and expulsions, although every child in poverty was at risk.

Charter school, Ms. Rodriguez is also against charter schools for siphoning resources from public schools.

Gwen Davis, a Worcester resident, whose children went to North High School, said that cops in the school are a part of the school to prison pipeline and these are some of the issues of the BlackLives Matter civil rights movement.

Dr, Sonya Conner, a professor at Worcester State, said she thought that the way the City Council was able to ram through the policy of cops in the schools was to divide the teachers from the students. She thought that the group should reach out to the teacher’s union on this issue.

Another speaker said that the ACLU in Boston has helped with the effort regarding the MOU by providing outlines and guidance for the writing of MOU.

The guidelines from the ACLU indicated that

1. Police should not be used in any school discipline as these are covered by Chapter 222 of the Acts of 2012 and not the criminal statutes.

2. The police should be trained in childhood education, especially adolescent behavior.

3. The police in the school should receive training in disabilities accommodations for children.

4. There should no arrests on campus for any reason other than public safety emergencies.

The MHRC has been collecting signature on a petition to City Council and the City School Committee regarding the City’s policy of police in schools and planned to present the petition to City Council and the City School Committee after Thanksgiving.

The group also made plans to write to the Parent Associations of the high and middle schools to make a presentation about the MOU and the rights of parents and students found in Chapter 222. Another suggestion was to leaflet the students at the City high schools with hopes of getting the information to parents.

There is no apparent reason why the City is hiding its MOU, except that it wants to keep the students, parents, and the public ignorant of its policy or its lack of policy. This policy information is in the public domain.  Let us hope the City authorities respond in a positive way to this effort that can only help all concerned, especially the children, and reduced the City’s liability exposure.