Seattle schools may be next to cut ties with police

Seattle may be the next city to pull police officers out of its schools.

Five Seattle police officers are assigned to work in public schools, primarily as school emphasis officers. But after weeks of unrest around the country over police violence against Black people, the school boards in Seattle and elsewhere (such as Portland and Minneapolis) are reconsidering their police ties.

Seattle School Board members gave an initial "yes" vote Wednesday morning to take officers out of schools for one year. The full school board will take a final vote June 24.

Superintendent Denise Juneau, who's backing the move, says "they centered the decision on the needs of students who are furthest from educational justice." She says they made this decision after speaking with the PTSA and families of color at the four schools that have an officer assigned to them.

Juneau has also asked SPD not to use school grounds as police staging areas anymore, as happened earlier this week during protests.

This comes after an online petition circulated widely in Seattle calling for taking officers out of schools.

School boards in Tacoma, Olympia, and Spokane area also considering changes to their use of police in schools and/or their racial equity programs.