California’s top school official said Wednesday that his office is working to re-imagine the role of police officers in California’s public schools.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said officers will still be needed on some campuses to protect students from dangers, but that officers would no longer be called upon to discipline misbehaving students.
Thurmond, who is California’s only Black statewide elected official, said schools that still need a police presence would get officers who choose to be there and who have been trained on implicit bias. He said officers won’t be assigned to campuses if they don’t want the assignment.
