Police to no longer be stationed in Cedar Rapids middle schools

CEDAR RAPIDS — School resource officers will no longer patrol Cedar Rapids middle schools after the school board voted to decrease the number of police in schools from seven to five and reduce the cost of the contract proportionally.

The decision Monday night is in conflict with a Cedar Rapids City Council vote last month that includes keeping a police officer stationed each in McKinley STEAM Academy and in Wilson Middle School, where police responded to a slightly higher number of incidents this past academic year. These two officers also would help address needs at other middle schools.

Deputy Superintendent Nicole Kooiker said the district provided the amended contract Tuesday to the Cedar Rapids Police Department. Cedar Rapids officials said in a statement the city is “reviewing the proposed contract changes and assessing impacts.” Contract amendments would need to come to council for consideration at a future meeting, but the date has not yet been determined.

“This is an important next step in the process,” Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our work with the Cedar Rapids Community School District and School Board. We share their determination to best serve the needs of the students while ensuring a safe learning environment.”

At Monday night’s meeting, school board member Dexter Merschbrock made a motion — seconded by Nancy Humbles — to amend the contract and remove the two school resource officers that would serve the middle schools. The amended contract was approved 5-2, with members Jennifer Neumann, Marcy Roundtree opposing.

“The same services provided now by (school resource officers) can be provided for free by us calling 911 or the police non-emergency number,” school board member Jennifer Borcherding said.

Having people in schools who are trained child psychologists and therapists — and not police officers first — “is a better service to our students,” Borcherding said.

Neumann disagreed, saying the amended agreement does not make students safer.

“I personally feel we need all seven officers at this point in time. If our job was only to educate children and that would do the trick, we’d have 100 percent success rate. But children come to us with different challenges and different lived experiences,” she said.

“I want to support our teachers, and I want to support our students,” Neumann said. “If it were up to me I would say the district should decide on a day-to-day basis where those two floater (officers) should go based on need and what’s going on in the community.”

Police data show that during the 2021-22 school year, there were 51 incidents across Cedar Rapids middle schools, 30 of which were at McKinley and Wilson, and they include issues such as simple assaults, schools threats and loaded weapons. The data encompasses any incidents generating a police report whether a school resource or patrol officer responded. The district reported 33 requests involving only school resource officers across elementary and middle schools.

The revised contract is in effect until June 30, 2023. School resource officers will be based at Jefferson, Kennedy, Washington and Metro high schools and Polk Alternative Education Center.

Ten speakers spoke during public comments ahead of the vote Monday, with the majority advocating to remove or reduce the number of police officers in schools.

Barb Hanson, culture and climate transformation specialist with the school district, said there is no data that indicates a need for school resource officers to be stationed inside schools. Instead, she suggested they be stationed at the Cedar Rapids Police Department and respond as needed.

“We are fortunate to have a great group of officers who are passionate about supporting students, but I don’t believe we need police inside of our schools.” Hanson said during public comment. “I feel strongly now that working with a team of school resource officers is to the district’s benefit and allows the opportunity to ensure alignment and restorative practices and respond when the need arises versus a street cop who may not have the same training.”

The Cedar Rapids Community School District began an audit of its school resource officer program last summer after many students asked for change. Last year, the district and the Cedar Rapids police set joint goals of reducing by 50 percent or more the number of student arrests and charges filed and of reducing the disproportionate arrests of Black students by 50 percent or more.

The district at the time removed permanently stationed police at the two middle schools and created two “floater” officer positions to serve K-12 buildings as needed.

While the number of high school students charged with crimes decreased 84 percent during the 2021-22 school year, the number of Black students being charged remains disproportionate.

Black students in Cedar Rapids middle schools are almost seven times more likely to be charged with a crime than their white peers, said Hanson.

Black students in Cedar Rapids high schools are 2.5 times more likely to be charged with a crime than their white peers, Hanson said — which represents a decrease from four times more likely a year ago.

Eighteen percent of the Cedar Rapids district’s student body is Black.

At a board work session focused on school resource officers last week, Roundtree — who worked at Washington High School before her election and has shared anecdotes attesting to the need for school police — urged the board to take a deeper look at the root causes of behavioral issues that lead to disparities in charges and arrests.

She and other board members agreed a larger community conversation should take place to consider what other supportive services should be used.

City Council member Tyler Olson said the city has spent upward of $3 million in the last several years establishing the Group Violence Intervention initiative and partnerships with the Leaders Believers Achievers Foundation and Urban Dreams as part of the city’s comprehensive strategy to reduce gun violence.

“The city’s had it at the top of its priority list” to address the root causes, Olson said. “While that work continues, we also need to address the real-world situation that exists. That means that we need SROs as a resource for teachers and administrators to work to solve some of these issues.”

Council member Dale Todd, chair of the council’s Public Safety and Youth Services Committee, said the school resource officer program is an important piece of the city’s violence reduction strategy.

“I felt that much of the testimony and true research was discounted by several board members,” Todd said. “This included the insightful perspective of board member Roundtree, which in my eyes was downplayed.”

He said the tone of the board’s discussion showed that “some simply do not understand the reality of what is happening in our schools and on our streets.”

“This is not hyperbole, it is reflected in the police reports,” Todd said. “This disconnect is not in the best interest of our children and community and it is a decision that the board will have to live with.”

Marissa Payne of The Gazette contributed to this report

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