Police officers from the 5th District stand at attention during roll call. Republican legislators are proposing new legislation that adds requirements regarding school resource officers at Milwaukee Public Schools. (NNS file photo)
By Devin Blake
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
Although police officers have returned to Milwaukee Public Schools, Republican lawmakers are frustrated with how long it took.
Only after a lawsuit from a student’s mother – and a judge’s threat of a $1,000-a-day fine – did MPS and the City of Milwaukee make the necessary arrangements to deploy officers to schools. That was more than 400 days past the deadline set by Wisconsin Act 12 to place officers at MPS.
Republicans in the state Assembly recently passed a bill that would create consequences for any future failures related to placing officers in MPS, according to Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, the author of the bill and a former South Side alderman.
No Democrats in the Assembly voted in favor of the bill.
The Senate’s corresponding bill has drawn opposition from many Democrats, continuing long-standing debates over police in schools, criminal justice reform and education funding.
Legislation details
The proposed legislation formalizes compliance with Act 12’s requirement for schools to have police, commonly known as school resource officers, and imposes financial consequences for both the city and MPS if they fail to comply.
MPS and the city would have to negotiate an agreement on school resource officers and certify compliance with the state’s Joint Committee on Finance.
If the agreement ends, they would have to renegotiate within 30 days. Failure to do so would result in Milwaukee losing 10% of shared revenue and 20% of MPS’ per-pupil funding until compliance is met.
“We learned … that, without consequences, MPS and/or the city will ignore the SRO (school resource officer) requirement,” wrote Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, in an email to NNS.
Wanggaard is chair of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.
The city defended its actions during a hearing before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Borowski, who presided over the lawsuit against the city and MPS.
According to Nicholas DeSiato, chief of staff for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, it was the coordination with the city attorney’s office — that Act 12 allows only school resource officers to be deployed to schools and that only officers who have received the appropriate training can legally qualify as school resource officers.
According to Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, Milwaukee police officers didn’t begin the required 40 hours of training for certification until the second week of March.
The proposed legislation also requires the city and MPS to evenly split the cost of having officers in schools. This cost sharing is the same as the one ordered by Borowski.
Reactions from city, state lawmaker
Since an agreement has been signed between the city and MPS, the city considers the matter resolved, said Jeff Fleming, spokesperson for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson.
Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, also questions whether additional legislation is necessary.
A spokesperson for Johnson said in an email that the senator is encouraged by the continued implementation of the official agreement between the city and MPS regarding school resource officers and believes that the proposed legislation is not necessary.
What critics say
Others oppose the legislation for different reasons.
Sen. Kelda Roys, D–Madison, a member of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, argues it follows a long-standing trend of ignoring the true needs of MPS.
“This bill is sponsored by people who have spent years defunding our public schools, making us all less safe by ignoring criminal justice reforms that would help communities and neighborhoods be safe,” she said. “This bill is just another way to try to punish and control Milwaukee’s residents.”
Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, opposes the very idea of having police in schools.
“They’re not as helpful as people think they are,” he said. “They blur the line between disciplinary matters and criminal matters, which just expedites kids’ entry into a broken criminal justice system.”
The current agreement between the city and MPS states that dealing with violations of school code are the responsibility of school administrators and officers only should be involved in certain circumstances.
What’s next?
If the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety approves the bill, it moves to the full Senate for a floor vote.
Gov. Tony Evers’ office did not respond to requests for comment on whether he would approve or veto the bill if it reached his desk.