Much of the wording in this petition has been adopted from Black Organizing Project's petition and efforts to create police-free schools in Oakland.

We propose that all schools, city councils, and the Board of Supervisors immediately eliminate school resource officers (SROs) from Marin County public schools.

School policing services have proven ineffective in both reducing school crimes and improving student safety. In contrast, such “services” traumatize particularly students of color. Thus, we demand that:

• funds previously used for sworn police officers be reallocated toward student support positions, such as school-based social workers, psychologists, restorative justice practitioners, mental and behavioral health professionals;
• the school, city, and county budgets support and meet the needs of students;
• all Marin County school districts who currently utilize SROs launch an inclusive, transparent, and community-driven process – involving parents, students, teachers, school administrators, student support staff, and other community partners – to revise safety strategies to enhance student learning, safety, and well-being within Marin County schools before the start of the 2020-2021 academic year.

We believe that all children deserve to feel safe and nurtured at school. In Marin County, Black children are suspended at 5 times the rate of white students, and are over 10 times more likely to be charged with a minor offense (Race Counts, 2017). School resource officers (SROs) have disproportionately pushed students of color into the Juvenile Justice system, thereby perpetuating the school-to-prison pipeline. This is unconscionable and unacceptable. Therefore, we are requesting that SROs immediately be eliminated from schools, and that those funds be reallocated to trauma-informed and restorative supports.

We would like to hear your personal stories/thoughts regarding SROs in Marin County schools, and ideas that you have on how we can improve our schools.  Please fill out our short survey here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekUe4T6F7ZzCSnPSeFi-LfFe6-pb3QRMlnlQwn4CRjcRdb-w/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1 

Next action steps:  Plan to attend future meetings, and call/email your representatives regarding this issue. Download this comprehensive list of upcoming meetings in Marin County from July 2020 – September 2020, and email addresses/available phone numbers for local representatives: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16SLFqgUkSHDPbodLyYW26Md-mcjV9wTUorcDGKMofSs/export?format=pdf

If you would like more information or resources on this issue, please contact us directly at info@surjmarin.org.