In 2020 the LAUSD School Board voted to slash the school police budget by 35% percent and invest in community-based alternatives to policing. But now, three years later, very few of these initiatives have materialized and community members are growing impatient.
On June 13, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education passed a resolution outlining strategies to speed up the implementation of community-based safety programs. The board allocated $15 million to fund these programs in its 2020-2021 budget, but according to the resolution much of this money remains unspent.
Community safety programs may include services to support mental health and counseling, peaceful conflict mediation, substance use prevention and gang prevention. They also include safe passage programs, which seek to ensure that students’ routes to and from school are clear of danger from cars, crime and harassment.
“It (the resolution) is really about making good on the board’s previous commitment to pursue community-based safety alternatives,” said Boardmember Kelly Gonez, who co-authored the resolution. “We know that there’s a lot more work to be done.”
A report released by the Police Free LAUSD Coalition in March found that none of the $15 million dedicated to community-based safety programs was spent in the 2021 to 2022 school year. And as of March, the 53 schools that received the greatest proportion of funding had only spent or committed 18% of their budgets for safety programs in the 2022 to 2033 school year.
In addition, while LAUSD has established 27 safe passage programs, only nine are currently very active, said Boardmember Tanya Franklin-Ortiz in the June 13 meeting.
“I have been followed, sexually harassed and even nearby robbed all while two minutes away from my school,” said Therese Thomas, a student at Drew Magnet High School in Watts, during the board meeting. “(Police) officers make children feel uncomfortable, but we still need…
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