We need you to copy/paste and email Superintendent Guerrero and elected officials today (email addresses/text below). It's been nearly a month of unanswered emails and three canceled meetings with PPS Chief of Staff Jonathan Garcia, and the violence in Portland continues. Our grassroots coalition has nearly 1,040 signatures and growing, and we deserve answers!
What will it take for Portland Public Schools (PPS) to make a bold move like the Denver superintendent, unilaterally reinstating School Resource Officers (SROs) following the shooting of two school administrators last month?
When will parents and community members be invited to the PPS Safety Task Force discussion? As parents and taxpayers, we have a vested interest in the safety of PPS and want to be invited to a public discussion before their recommendations are made to the school board on May 4th.
Why have PPS Safety Task Force meetings with students not been publicized in student run school publications and on social media to ensure adequate student representation from across the district? We have spoken to many students unaware of school safety meetings and their voices in support of SROs need to be included in district-wide safety discussions.
The violence in Portland, to include the tragic triple-homicide during spring break, needs to be addressed by PPS, city officials, and our governor. Violence exists in all forms in PPS, whether fights, bullying, gangs, drugs (Fentanyl use and deaths), human trafficking, stolen property, or shootings. Our youth are in trouble.
SRO's are part of a team of violence interrupters for our students, deterring crime and building relationships with youth. It takes a village of counselors, staff, Youth Violence Prevention and Response Managers and SROs, working in tandem, to keep our students safe, in class and accountable for learning during the school day. Students can't learn if they don't feel safe.
Our grassroots petition - Reinstate School Resource Officers and Police Safety Patrols to PPS Schools - has nearly 1,040 signatures from students, staff, parents and neighbors since its inception following the January shooting outside Franklin High school during a PIL basketball game. Since then, there has been another shooting blocks from Franklin, a Fentanyl drug death of a Franklin student, and a triple-homicide of Franklin and Roosevelt students in North Portland, and that's just the student violence 'reported in the news'.
Closed door meetings involving a 'PPS Safety Task Force' assembled to report findings to the school board on May 4th are not transparent. We, as students, staff, parents and neighbors of PPS schools, demand action and communication from PPS, city leaders and the state, along with a commitment to safety by reinstating SROs and police safety patrols to PPS.
Sincerely,
<Insert your Name>
gguerrero@pps.net
jgarcia@pps.net
schoolboard@pps.net
gonzalezoffice@portlandoregon.gov
comm.rubio@portlandoregon.gov
MappsOffice@portlandoregon.gov
CommissionerRyanOffice@portlandoregon.gov
MayorWheeler@portlandoregon.gov
#ReinstateSROs #PortlandPublicSchools #PPSSafety