The Chicago Board of Education’s decision to remove uniformed police officers from schools has one parent expressing her frustration with the “unfortunate” move.
Yalila Herrera has six children, and three of them are enrolled in Chicago Public Schools. So the Board’s recent vote to no longer allow uniformed officers in 39 out of the district’s 634 schools personally affected the mother, as well as many other families who feel their “choice” has been taken away.
Heated debate preceded the unanimous vote by what the Chicago Sun-Times called Democrat “Mayor Brandon Johnson’s seven-member hand-picked school board” which sparked immediate criticism.
Some students claimed they felt “unsafe” with the officers on location, giving fuel to those advocating for their removal. But several aldermen blasted the Chicago Board of Education for “fulfilling political agendas instead of doing the work that keeps our city moving and working.”
Chicago board votes to remove uniformed police from public schools, despite troubling data https://t.co/B23zvUpREg via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) February 23, 2024
“I’ve never realized one important word that comes to mind, and that is choice,” Herrera told Fox News host Pete Hegseth on “Fox & Friends.”
“This word in particular has been under attack. I constantly say my prayers as I drop off my children, and it’s very disappointing,” she added.
“And it’s unfortunate because not everyone is in agreement to this result,” Herrera said.
“We need our police officers to have that bond, that special bond with our students and our staff. We’re all a community,” she added, noting that many students have said they “feel safe” knowing there are resource officers in the buildings.
“They talk about restorative justice and how — what are they doing in providing to allow this bond?” she wondered, noting high schools that are “very disappointed and saddened” by the vote. “They really enjoy their SROs in their buildings. They feel safe with them there.”
“We lost three Chicago public school students a week apart with the violence,” Herrera said. “What about our South and West Side schools where there’s so much crime?”
She went on to press about the opportunity being taken away from local, smaller school councils who now will not be given a voice in deciding what is best for their locations.
“We are talking about differentiation. Right? We are talking about we want to differentiate with our academics. Now they are not allowing us and giving us the power as parents and teachers and principals to decide what schools truly need,” Herrera contended.
The Board of Education issued assurances in a letter that “many schools will still employ physical safety personnel like security guards at points of entry, and crossing guards and Safe Passage workers to ensure students can get to and from school safely.”
“Some schools will also continue to use physical security tools such as security cameras or metal detectors. Furthermore, each school will still maintain a relationship with their local Chicago Police Department ‘School Sergeant,’ a position assigned to each police district to provide safety support to schools,” the letter obtained by FOX 32 read.
In addition, the letter explained that the funding that would have been allocated to having uniformed officers on campus will now go to “alternative safety positions, resources, and interventions.”
The proposal will go into effect next school year if it gets final approval from the board this summer.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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