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Below is a shortened version of our letter to the school board and other administrators. View the full letter here.

George Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020. This death sparked protests across the country and around the world, as it was yet another instance of a long history of police violence against Black Americans. We, like many across the country, were angered by this event and the actions of the Columbus police department against those who responded through protest. As both current students and alumni of the Worthington City School System, we are asking for the Worthington school board to end their contracts with the Columbus and Worthington Police Departments, pull Resource Officers from all schools, and allocate the money it would save to important student and faculty resources instead, including hiring a diversity officer, improving mental health resources, and training teachers in conflict resolution and de-escalation tactics. 

Mapping Police Violence found that the rate at which Columbus Police Officers kill Black people was 91.9, per every one million Black people. During the peaceful protests in Columbus, which started on May 28th, 2020, CPD has been using chemical sprays, wooden bullets, rubber bullets, and other aggressive methods of crowd dispersal on protesters, all of whom were unarmed and were exercising their first amendment right to assembly. They also used these methods on students reporting for the Ohio State University's The Lantern, despite these students clearly displaying their press passes that exempted them from the curfew. 

We are distressed by the violence of the CPD, especially in response to protesters asking to end police violence. Therefore, we demand that:

1. Worthington City Schools immediately ends its contracts with the Columbus and Worthington Police Departments, and pulls the resource officers from our schools. 
2. The district publicly condemns the Columbus Police Department for its unchecked violence against protestors, and acknowledges historical and continued injustice against the Black community in our city.
3. The school board reallocates the approximately $100,000 per year it would save by divesting from the police departments toward several resources for students and faculty. First, we demand that the school system commit to hiring a diversity officer, highlight the diversity within our school system, and increase diversity among our faculty in the entire district. Next, we demand better mental health resources in our schools. We want more than just a therapy dog, we want access to professional help whenever we are faced with a crisis. Finally, we demand that all faculty are regularly trained in conflict resolution. Without police, faculty should be able to safely de-escalate any conflict that should arise, whether it be between two teachers, two students, or a student and a teacher. Worthington is a community, and as a community we should be there for each other. 

Written by: Gordan Liu, WKHS ’19; Meena Jani, WKHS ’19; Maxim Estevez-Curtis, WKHS ’19; Mollie Gladden, TWHS ’18; Gene Kim, WKHS ’19; Noor Chaudhry, WKHS and Linworth AP ’19; Gayathri Mudigonda, TWHS ’19; Keegan Ballantyne, TWHS ’20; Caroline Hill, WKHS and Linworth AP ’19; Madison Price, WKHS and Linworth AP ’19; Noah Spaulding-Schecter, WKHS ’19; Melissa Yu, WKHS and Linworth AP '21