After the senseless murders of black people by police officers, the violence that police officers incite, and the evidence showing that officers actively target marginalized communities, it's no longer safe or morally acceptable to accept them into our schools.

According to an ACLU report published in April 2017, young children are charged with petty crimes every day - from wearing sagging pants, throwing a paper airplane, and kicking a trashcan. Over 224,000 and growing referrals were submitted to school resource officers for these minimal acts of defiance, which could have easily been corrected by using school disciplinary methods and corrective punishments. For minority students, arrest rates in school are even worse  . Black students are 3 times more likely to be arrested in an educational institution than their white peers. These racial disparities don't stop themselves. 

It has been consistently proven that biases of police officers are responsible for the deaths of Black and Indigenous people of color and the corruption of the system is not left at the front door. Sanford should lead the way in protecting Maine's minority students by disallowing anyone with violent or racist tendencies on its campuses. Black lives matter everywhere, including schools. Please share this petition with your networks.