69ý

School Climate & Safety Interactive

School Police: Which Districts Cut Them? Which Brought Them Back?

By Maya Riser-Kositsky, Stephen Sawchuk & Holly Peele — June 04, 2021 | Updated: June 29, 2022 | Corrected: June 29, 2022 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Corrected: A prior version had incorrect descriptions for the Edmonds, Wash., Hayward Unified (Calif.), Hopkins, Minn., and Frewsburg, N.Y. districts, and an incorrect status for Alexandria, Va.

Though it is only one segment of the school safety conversation, school policing tends to dominate the public discourse about keeping students safe.

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020 at the hands of police, a small number of school districts began to reconsider their use of school resource officers. But a series of subsequent school shootings—including one that killed 19 students in Uvalde, Texas—has caused some to restart their programs and other districts to bolster them, despite limited evidence of their effectiveness in preventing such tragedies.

To develop this interactive database, the Education Week Library tracked news reports on school resource officers from May 2020 through June 22, 2022. The figures reported here are probably an undercount, since not all changes may have been captured by local media.

From May 2020 through June 2022, at least 50 districts serving over 1.7 million children have ended their school policing programs or cut their budgets. Eight districts that had removed police from schools have since reversed course and added them back.

Data Note:

  • Ended - School officials decided to end their contract with local police for school police officers or to disband their own police division.
  • Budget cut - The district significantly decreased their budget for school police, but did not remove all police from schools.
  • Alternate - School officials have not yet removed police, but implemented different plans to try to address community concerns about police and discipline in schools.
  • Unknown - No decision has been made yet.
  • Considered; Kept SROs - School officials discussed removing SROs from schools but decided not to.
  • Reversed course - The district ended its policing program, but has since brought it back.

Got any feedback for us? Want us to add your district? Email us at library@educationweek.org.

Contact Information

For media or research inquiries about this data, contact library@educationweek.org.

How to Cite This Page

School Police: Which Districts Cut Them? Which Brought Them Back? (2021, June 4). Education Week. Retrieved Month Day, Year from /leadership/which-districts-have-cut-school-policing-programs/2021/06

Related Tags:

Data visualization by Creative Director Laura Baker
This was originally published under the headline “Which Districts Have Cut School Policing Programs?”

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

School Climate & Safety Letter to the Editor School Safety Should Be Built In, Not Tacked On
69ý and communities must address ways to prevent school violence by first working with people, says this letter to the editor.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Opinion How One Big City District Is Addressing the Middle East Conflict
Partnerships are helping the Philadelphia schools better support all students and staff, writes Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.
Tony B. Watlington Sr.
4 min read
Young people protesting with signs.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School Climate & Safety 69ý Feel Less Connected to School. Here's Why That Matters
There's a body of research that points to a number of benefits when students feel close to people at school.
3 min read
An illustration of a black broken chain link on a red background.
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety Opinion ‘Homemade’ Solutions to School Safety Can Be Fire Hazards. Here’s What to Know
With the threat of school shootings, it’s natural to guard against intruders. However, this urgency can lead to equally unsafe measures.
Lauris Freidenfelds
4 min read
Photo of chained school doors.
istock