Atlanta school district leaders are considering replacing the city police officers patrolling schools with school resource officers directly accountable to the district.
“We’ve got to be in the business of building meaningful relationships with our students,” Atlanta school board chairman Courtney English said. Atlanta schools need “people who can build relationships without having that strict law enforcement component.”
Startup costs for a district police department — a move the district will “strongly consider” during upcoming budget talks — could run into the millions, English said.
Last week, the district, nonprofit research group WestEd and Georgia State University announced receipt of a $7.5 million, five-year federal grant to study how to make local schools safer — and, once they figure that out, how other districts nationwide can learn from those efforts.
The grant-funded project will focus on developing a comprehensive approach to school safety. That could include things like hiring school resource officers, teaching children better ways to manage their emotions and relationships and using data to target potential “hot spots.”
“We’re going to let the data dictate the approach we’re going to take,” WestEd researcher Joseph McCrary said.
Most of the costs of any new safety approaches would be paid from the district’s general fund, English said. The district’s contract with the Atlanta Police Department calls for 73 officers to be assigned to schools at an annual cost of $5.6 million. The district also provides vehicles for supervisors. The idea of an Atlanta school police force was last considered — and ultimately rejected — two years ago.
The grant is “an opportunity to rethink how we go about safety and security in our schools,” Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said in announcing the grant.
“Street cops in public schools do not necessarily make for the best, caring environment,” Carstarphen said at an Atlanta Association of Black Journalists event last month.
District records show officers used some type of force — including pepper spray, stun guns and physical “takedowns” — in Atlanta schools 22 times last year.
The number of officers in schools has increased in the past decade.
Cobb County put school resource officers in all of its middle schools last year. DeKalb has officers in some of its elementary schools, and since 2014 has added 10 officers to its force, which is now at 72. Gwinnett County’s budget for school resource officers has more than doubled in the past five years, from $2.2 million to about $4.85 million. Gwinnett, which was criticized a decade ago for not having enough officers, increased its force from 23 officers in 2006 to 41 in 2014. Clayton has about 30 officers.
School resource officer leaders defend their increased presence, saying an adult in school hallway discourages potential violence.
But that also means confrontations when officers step in. During the last school year, metro Atlanta school districts investigated more than two dozen complaints of excessive force as officers were detaining or arresting a student or intruder.
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