School Safety

The three Democratic candidates are in agreement – NO POLICE IN THE SCHOOLS. Here are some quotes from their own postings:

• “… it’s time to liberate ourselves from a dangerous, racist model of law enforcement…”
• “We demand police free schools in Gwinnett County!”
• “Creating an antiracist education system requires the removal of SRO’s from all school buildings.”
• “School resource officers do not make schools safer and undermine emotional safety.”
• “And there’s a killer cop sitting in every school where White children learn.”
• “Instead of school resource officers, we need more counselors, social workers and paraprofessionals.”
• “No Police Officers in Schools”
• “My personal opinion is to get rid of them, abolish police in schools. I want them out, period.”

(You can see some of their actual social-media posts below)

This is completely in line with their supporters who call for a national defunding of police. 

What do they want to do instead? For children that are out of control, Tarece Johnson is very specific:

“I would solve the school discipline issues by advocating for the following: • Innovative behavior management techniques including yoga, meditation, and art therapy • Group sessions, counseling, and anger management • Mentoring programs • Motivational learning environments (friendlier spaces and less like a prison environment) • Provide positive reinforcement for academic excellence, behavior, acts of kindness, and attendance • Required ongoing training related to cultural understanding, biases, and unconscious racism.”

Interview with Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce

The record is clear – School Resource Officers save lives.

But our School Resource Officers do so much more than just protect our children! Ask parents why they love their school’s officer and you will find that these men and women are invaluable.

• On multiple occasions, they have saved lives by rendering first aid when needed
• They are a resource for parents who have legal questions
• They serve as a buffer between children and jail – an SRO can step in and defuse a situation without having to call the police
• They encourage the kids and serve as mentors
• They help teach classes
• Many give tokens or small prizes to children as rewards for good behavior

When candidate Tanisha Banks posted her desire to get rid of School Resource Officers, almost all of the comments she received were opposed to this radical idea!

As a GCPS teacher I like a lot of what you stand for but this I cannot support. Our basic yet most important role as educators is to provide a safe environment for the children that are entrusted to us. In today’s world, it is imperative that we have SRO’s available at schools. Decreasing the number of them would be detrimental to the safety of the students and faculty. Please do not pursue the reduction of SROs.

So, you want more counselors and less SRO’s??? because these counselors are going to keep our schools and children safer then SRO’s… This alone is enough for you to never get my vote….

Please do not take my sro. He is amazing. I feel safer with him around. We do need social workers however sro’s help so much with parents. Now parents are threatening teachers left and right. We need that security.

In the face of this kind of pressure, they are now claiming that they don’t want to eliminate the School Resource Office program and have attempted to remove many of their previous posts from public record. Don’t be deceived. This is just a pose to hide their real agenda from the voter.

Remember, if just one of “the squad” wins the election, their agenda will become reality.