Montgomery County students rally against new school resource officers proposal

ROCKVILLE, Md. - On Thursday, around 30 people – mostly Montgomery County Public School students and recent grads – held a last-minute demonstration to protest the school board as it went over proposed plans to increase school security. 

The group chanted, "Hey-hey, ho-ho, cops in schools have got to go," and, "counselors not cops," outside the Board of Education building in Rockville, Maryland. Young People for Progress organized the gathering. 

Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather

Those students and young adults told FOX 5 they do not want any officers returning to school buildings, citing harm to students of color and students with disabilities, as reasons why. "I feel like I just can’t be myself with an officer," said Einstein High School student Baba Cisse, "I would not want to give that emotional attachment I would to a mentor, a teacher that I trust or a counselor." 

A parent protester told FOX 5 this isn’t just about police in schools. This group is upset with a 2023 school budget proposal that would fund around a dozen new security positions, mainly for elementary schools. 

Should school resource officers return to curb violence in Montgomery Co. public schools?

The 12 security positions that parents were talking about were added as part of a recent 2023 budget amendment. MCPS says the positions would have "Security Rovers" to primarily assist elementary schools but also be available to secondary schools if assistance is needed. This could be for a staffing shortage or if more security is needed for a large school event.

A shooting inside Col. Zodak Magruder High School last month, along with a number of other incidents this school year, prompted a review of school security plans.

READ MORE: Montgomery County removes school resource officers... kind of

A few weeks ago, MCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight introduced a CEO 2.0 proposal that would place Community Engagement Officers (CEOs) back inside school buildings. CEOs would be assigned to a school cluster instead of a high school and the proposed plan would only have CEOs responding to serious incidents, such as assaults.

A petition that’s been going around for about a month now has garnered close to 5,500 signatures in support of the School Resource Officer program that was disbanded before the start of the 2021-2022 school year. The petition notes how every high school principal told the school board they wanted the SRO program to remain and how those officers were also trusted adults and mentors to students. 

In a recorded testimony, MCPS parent Jumana Musa said, "Police in schools do not stop school shootings, as much as they’re concerned. They do not stop school violence. What they do is police Black and brown children and feed them into our criminal legal system; a system that’s difficult for anyone to escape. So, I urge you not to go down that path. Resource our children with the social and emotion support that they need, and that will bring all of us safety."

The school board will take up security proposals in the budget and are expected to go over school officer plans, but whether CEOs will return to school buildings is ultimately up to the superintendent and what memorandum of understanding is made with county police. The County Executive’s Office would also have to sign off on the agreement.