South San Francisco Unified College District postpones vote on Pupil Liaison Officer program | Native Information

Despite the city’s urgency to maintain a police presence on the campus of South San Francisco’s Unified School District, the school’s liaison officers are likely to go missing early in the new school year after the district’s board of trustees decided to postpone its final vote until one full board can be present.

District trustees met for a special meeting Wednesday, August 4th, possibly to finalize a letter of intent with the city and its law enforcement agency to outline the role of SLOs on campus.

The South San Francisco City Council unanimously endorsed the latest draft of the MOU during a special session on July 28, with some members sharing the hope that the board would meet in time to approve the agreement before the new school year.

The urgency of the city was driven by the board’s decision to suspend the SLO program, which bans officials from entering campus except in an emergency until an agreement is reached. However, as CEO Daina Lujan was absent from the meeting due to illness, trustee Patricia Murray recommended that the board postpone its discussion until all voices can be heard.

“Your voice was an important voice and I think your voice should be heard,” said Murray.

Vice President Mina Richardson agreed to the recommendation, noting that the board could end in a draw. Richardson highlighted her concern that the presence of officials on campus made the facilities appear less secure than secure.

She also asked if the district officials had recorded any information suggesting the program was benefiting the students from public speakers during the meeting.

Dr. Ryan Sebers, director of the student union, said the district had seen a 78.6% decrease in student lockouts since the school year, from 1,645 lockouts in 2006-07 to 352 in 2019-20. Expulsions also fell by 90% from 61 cases in 2006-07 to six in 2019-20.

He attributed the improvements to parents, educators, and the district’s investment in mental health counseling and support programs.

“I was … pleasantly surprised to hear these numbers when you first presented them, and I am still impressed, but at no point have I heard you say this is the result because of the SLO program,” said Richardson. “This program has been around since the 1980s and I think it is time we reevaluated it. That moment is long gone. ”

Discussions about the SLO program began a year ago after school district officials determined that there was no formal agreement. City and school district governing bodies also met with community approval for the program, with former and current students, teachers and affected members of the public pleading with the district to end its partnership with the police for good.

The intent of the MoU is to clearly define when SLOs should or should not be involved in student disciplinary matters and programs. As outlined in the draft MOU, campus staff are supposed to handle most disciplinary matters internally, unless the code of education states otherwise, a guideline Superintendent Shawnterra Moore said is always standard but not documented.

In response to community input, several changes have been made to the MOU, such as:

Trustee John Baker said he also has a significant number of changes he wants to make and continues to support calls for a final vote to be postponed until a full board discussion can take place.

Before the vote was postponed, public speakers claimed the process was hasty and raised concerns that neither agency had provided any material data to aid police on campus. Instead, the meeting pleaded with the panels to reject the MOU and maintain the program’s suspension.

Defending the pace of the district’s work, Moore noted that the board had directed staff to develop the MOU and signaled the urgency to complete it before the new school year. Following instructions from the board, Moore said she would work with Lujan to re-plan the SLO discussion.

“I want to make sure we are following the guideline I’ve been given to make sure we develop a MOU that meets the needs of our students,” said Moore. “I have no doubt we will make it, and we will do it collaboratively and collectively.”