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Some CPS schools could start year with 2 officers despite votes to reduce police presence; decision on CPD contract delayed

A Chicago Board of Education vote on the district’s controversial school police contract has been postponed indefinitely because the Chicago Police Department has requested a new review of the terms of the agreement, a Chicago Public Schools official said Monday.

“Once there is an agreement on the terms … CPS will bring the proposal to the Board of Education for review,” CPS safety and security chief Jadine Chou wrote in an email to school principals and Local School Council chairpersons. “Until then, CPS and CPD will operate under the (intergovernmental agreement) from the previous year.”

The board was slated to review the deal with the police department at Wednesday’s monthly board meeting after the summer votes from more than 50 Chicago high schools were tallied. Local School Councils had the choice to retain the two school resource officers assigned to their respective schools, remove them or, in an option newly available this year, keep just one officer.

Chou said 23 schools opted to retain one officer. The police department may “potentially add” a second officer temporarily at these schools to help ease students back into in-person learning, she said in her email.

“It is CPS’ intention to ensure that this is only a temporary arrangement,” Chou wrote. “CPS will not be required to pay for the second officer, and this does not affect the reinvestment funds that have already been transferred to schools.”

It’s unclear why this temporary addition is only for schools that voted to get rid of one officer and not for the eight schools that axed both, but will also resume in-person learning next week.

Five community organizations that pushed for the end of the school police program — which is said to disproportionately affect students of color — called on the police department to consider the Local School Council decisions as details of the new contract are ironed out.

“We support CPS’ stated commitment to honor the process and support full implementation of the work our groups, parents, students and teachers have done to make this process authentic. We call on CPD to respect the extensive community engagement process that took place over the past year,” reads the joint statement from the Ark of St. Sabina, Build Inc., Community Organizing and Family Issues, Mikva Challenge and Voices of Youth in Chicago Education.

CPS said schools that chose to remove one or both officers were initially offered $50,000 per position to pay for alternate strategies for school safety, with larger requests to be considered based on an “equity index.” The district did not disclose on Monday the amount of “reinvestment funds” transferred to schools.

The Board of Education renewed its contract with CPD for up to $12.1 million last year, amid a nationwide racial reckoning sparked by the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd. The board adopted a resolution at the time that called for an “inclusive, thoughtful and expeditious process to develop and implement alternative systems of safety for CPS students.”

Officers didn’t return to high schools when they reopened in the spring after the pandemic shutdown. Meanwhile, schools that were part of the officer program had formed Whole School Safety Committees to develop comprehensive plans to foster supportive environments.

“We believe that it is absolutely critical that we are honoring this past year’s process and outcomes worked by all of the Whole School Safety Committees and Local School Councils,” Chou said in a press statement Monday. “As we continue to work with CPD on their review of the (agreement’s) terms, CPS will also continue to partner with principals, teachers, Local School Councils, parents and students to continue to engage on what it means to them to have safety in schools in order to help inform our next steps.”

At Amundsen High School on the North Side, the Local School Council voted unanimously to retain one of its two officers to address safety issues in the neighborhood. The Whole School Safety Committee recommended hiring an at-risk coordinator to help students struggling with truancy and social-emotional challenges.

Bob Farster, a community representative on the Amundsen LSC, said he isn’t worried about possibly starting the school year with two officers.

“We have a really good administration that actually manages the SROs and sets the tone for how they work within the school, so having two, I think, is totally fine,” Farster said.

tswartz@tribpub.com