Violence prevention approach results in 50 percent fewer students being charged with crimes in Cedar Rapids schools

CEDAR RAPIDS — The number of students in Cedar Rapids schools charged with a crime fell by nearly 50 percent last school year, the result of work by a group violence intervention program that aims to prevent crime.

Janessa Carr, safe and secure learning coordinator for the district, said the improved numbers are the result of the community working together.

A closer partnership during the 2024-25 school year between the school district, families, Foundation 2 Crisis Services, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, and juvenile court has resulted in “possibly 15 to 20 fewer students of color from being charged” with a crime, Carr said.

In total, during the 2024-25 school year, 35 students in the Cedar Rapids Community School District were charged with a crime through school resource officers. Seventeen of the students charged were white.

While the number of Black students charged is now comparable to the number of white students charged — an improvement from three years ago when Black students made up 66 percent of charges — Black students still are charged at a higher rate than their white peers, despite Black students making up only 20 percent of the district’s population.

These are “decreases that make a difference,” Carr said during a presentation to the Cedar Rapids school board Monday.

“When we find out two groups of students are not getting along — students who identify themselves as part of a gang, I want to be transparent about that — and plan to meet up at 3 p.m., I’m able to call Foundation 2 and say ‘We need someone to be here to intervene.’ Foundation 2 calls the parents and says, ‘Where is your child right now?’” said Carr, who joined the district in the fall of 2023.

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Community-led approach to stopping violence

This school-led community approach began as a pilot in December 2023 as a strategy for engaging those at risk of being offenders or victims of gun violence, by providing them with community supports in an effort to prevent violence from happening in the first place.

Lt. Cory McGarvey, who oversees part of the school resource officer program for the Cedar Rapids Police Department, said meetings between the four entities happen twice a week.

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“They are informational — sharing about students who may be struggling with anything, including family issues, trauma, potential gun violence, fighting or other recent concerning behavior,” McGarvey said in an email to The Gazette. “Oftentimes, follow-up is conducted by the appropriate entity with the student or family to intervene quicker for a greater chance of reducing that concerning behavior.

“Foundation 2 does amazing work at filling in service gaps for students and families when the group identifies a student or family in need, or on the edge of falling into a more violent behavior,” McGarvey said.

‘Disparities do exist’

Data on 2024-25 arrests shows that compared with the previous year, there was a 65 percent reduction in the number of Black students who were charged with crimes, and a 10 percent reduction in charges against students who receive special education services.

The most frequent charges during the last school year were disorderly conduct and assault, according to the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

“Disparities do exist. There’s always room for improvement, but I think we’re headed in the right direction,” Carr said in an interview with The Gazette last month.

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“We spend way too much time asking questions after a charge is made,” Carr said. “We must stay focused on the root causes. Why are students being charged? What behaviors are leading to the charges? We need to begin to ask harder questions. Why are we seeing specific demographics of students engaging in violent or disruptive behavior?”

“We are talking about a public school system — one that currently doesn’t have metal detectors. We’re talking about a community where kids have access to weapons. Kids have access to guns. A system where we have a higher free or reduced lunch rate. We have needs in our community and SROs are there to assist with those things,” Carr said.

“We are always going to have SROs. We need SROs, they have their place, but when we’re talking about safety, it is so much bigger than our SROs,” she said.

McGarvey said SROs can be another supportive adult in students’ lives.

“For every case of criminal activity that makes headlines, we have dozens of stories of kids reaching out to us and expressing gratitude for helping them through a rough time,” McGarvey said. “For each arrest, there are many more instances of SROs and school staff quietly reaching out to help a student who might need new shoes, glasses or help pursuing a new interest that's not financially available through their family.”

More students diverted from charges

Last school year, 12 students were diverted away from formal criminal charges, a 35 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

A diversion occurs when a student is not charged, but instead referred to the school for consequences and support. These can involve anything from writing a 200-word paper about the negative effects of vaping, to attending required counseling.

Additional supports for students are being put in place this fall, aimed at better supporting kids with behavior needs.

Dozens of staff positions are being added at the elementary, middle and high school levels in the Cedar Rapids district in an effort to improve learning outcomes and reduce office referrals, suspensions, fighting and even juvenile court appearances.

Elementary student safety and success advocates focused on fourth- and fifth-graders at risk of group affiliation or gang involvement could further reduce the number of students charged as those kids move up through the K-12 system, Carr said.

These staff will work to intervene early and provide support to families of at-risk students. Students considered “at-risk” will be “backed by data,” Carr told The Gazette in May. School officials will begin looking at data from middle and high school students with a history of fighting or who are in the juvenile court system.

“Every year, we evaluate the (school resource officer) program, look for improvements and implement those changes in accordance with the agreements we have with the schools and alignment with NASRO, the National Association of School Resource Officers,” McGarvey said. “While diversions and criminal charges come with the job of being law enforcement officers, the focus is not on the worst behaviors, but on bringing out the best in as many students as we can.”

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Partnership between district, police continues

The Cedar Rapids district began making changes to its school resource officer program in 2021, after data showed Black students were six times more likely to be charged with a crime.

The changes aimed to reduce the overall number of students charged, and to reduce the racial disparity in charges.

The Cedar Rapids school board approved a new two-year 28E agreement between the district and City of Cedar Rapids for school resource officers in June. The agreement essentially has remained the same since 2022 when the district removed officers from its middle schools.

The agreement for the five officers approved earlier this summer is effective July 1 and ends June 30, 2027.

In the first year of the agreement, each officer costs $165,307, according to the 28E agreement. The five positions cost $826,535 total. The district reimburses the city for half the cost for all five officers, totaling $413,267.

The city also invoices the school district up to $4,500 for training for all school resource officers each year.

The five school resource officers are stationed at Kennedy, Washington, Jefferson and Metro high schools and Polk Alternative school.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com