Police to end deal providing officers in schools
KNOXVILLE — Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon said Wednesday night the police department will end its agreement to put officers in schools as her administration reevaluates the role of law enforcement in schools.
Kincannon, speaking at a hastily called late-night news conference Wednesday, said the city’s decision to end its agreement with Knox County Schools, effective June 12, does not necessarily mean police will be removed from schools.
“We may very well continue to have KPD officers in schools,” Kincannon told reporters. “We just want to have the conversation with our school leaders and with our school board members and with other community stakeholders to see how best that can work out and to just update our understanding, our roles and responsibilities, to make sure they reflect the current circumstances.”
The city’s decision was revealed earlier Wednesday at a school board meeting that included a discussion about policing in schools. Board members said Kincannon and Police Chief Eve Thomas had sent a letter saying the agreement would end the day after the district’s last graduations.
The Knoxville Police Department currently stations 14 officers at district schools within the city, Kincannon said.
City, school district and county officials have been under pressure from community activists to pull law enforcement from schools following the fatal shooting of student Anthony Thompson Jr. by a police officer in an Austin-East Magnet High School bathroom on April 12.
In addition to Knoxville police, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office provides 32 school resource officers to schools outside city limits, and the district also provides 93 of its own school security officers who are bonded by the Sheriff’s Office and armed, but have law enforcement powers only at school. Knox County Schools can staff up to 105 school security officers.
The school board voted last week to increase the number of days school security officers work, citing the need for better recruitment, retainment and amount of time available for training.
The Knox County Board of Education had planned to discuss the agreement with law enforcement at a work session Wednesday night. School board members Daniel Watson and Evetty Satterfield presented a resolution asking for a top-to-bottom review of the agreement with Knoxville police and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
The resolution also calls for community input over the next several months as a new agreement is crafted. It is scheduled to be voted on at next week’s school board meeting.
Kincannon said she wants there to be community conversations but did not provide specifics on how she would like those discussions to happen.
Watson said Kincannon’s move means the district could reevaluate its relationship with officers at an earlier timeline than his proposed resolution suggests.
Superintendent Bob Thomas said he supports reviewing the agreement and was “surprised” by Kincannon’s letter.
Sheriff Tom Spangler issued a late-night statement saying the Sheriff’s Office will continue to provide school resource officers.