Schools should invest in counselors, not cops

In November, school resource deputy Harry Reid was called to address a group of students fighting near Westridge Middle School. He responded to the scene by grabbing 13-year-old Wilmica Edmond’s hair and yanking it backwards.

After detaining Edmond, this was how he addressed the crowd responding to his use of force: “This is because you’re silly. You all stupid little children. Stupid little children is what you are” (“didn’t know what to do,’” Nov. 23, 2019).

Now Orange County Public Schools plans to increase their policing budget to nearly $23 million, adding additional school resource officers to 22 elementary and middle schools.

The county already exceeds state requirements from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Acts by having two or three SROs at every high school.

The American Civil Liberties Union says that police presence in schools increases the frequency of school-based arrests, mostly for nonviolent offenses and disproportionately aimed towards students of color.

According to the Department of Juvenile Justice, Black students make up 24.8% of the OCPS population, but are 45.2% of youth who receive in-school suspension, 47.6% of youth who receive out-of-school suspension and are 57.7% of juveniles arrested.

On Sept. 8, the school board is meeting to finalize the year’s budget. OCPS has the opportunity to invest in alternatives like counselors and diversion programs instead of increasing its budget for police in our schools.

The country is demanding justice for the lives terrorized by systemic racism and unjust policing.

It is up to OCPS to decide if they will extend that same fight for our kids.

Nushrat Nur and Shanon Tang Ocoee