St. Paul Public Schools Consider Renewed Relationship with Police

Nearly three years after cutting ties with the police, St. Paul Public School leaders hope to revisit the conversation.

Following a deadly stabbing at Harding High on Friday, along with other instances of violence throughout the district, leaders are now reaching out to police with the intention of bringing them back into schools in some capacity.

According to St. Paul Schools Superintendent Joe Gothard, the district does not plan to bring back resource officers. The officers were replaced with the district’s own security in 2020 after the district cut ties with police.

Many organizations, including SPPS, voted to cancel their contracts with Minneapolis and St. Paul Police Departments following the 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of the MPD.

Now Superintendent Gothard wants police back, saying of the district’s own security, “There is a level of support that is required from time to time that we’re just not equipped to do as a school staff.”

Opponents have long voiced that police presence in schools does not provide a sense of safety for many communities, especially Black and brown youth. In fact, research suggests enforcement in schools does not effect safety.

Moreover, police in schools increases the chances of youth of color being criminalized for their actions, which will almost certainly bolster the school to prison pipeline.

This is especially problematic considering of the almost 35,000 enrolled students in the district, 80% are youth of color.

What do y’all think? Should St. Paul reintroduce police into schools?

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