On August 16th, 2016, Walla Walla Public Schools Superintendent Wade Smith signed the "Interlocal Agreement Between Walla Walla School District, Walla Walla County, and Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office." Section 1 of the Interlocal Agreement states, "the purpose of this Agreement is for the WWSO to provide contract services in the form of an SRO to the District upon the Wa-Hi campus and surrounding area,” as well as, “to assist the District in providing a safe learning environment and improve relationships between law enforcement officers and youth.” An "SRO" is a School Resource Officer; the SRO position at Wa-Hi is held by an appointed Deputy Sheriff. 

The Interlocal Agreement’s Appendix A outlines that, “the [WWPS] District shall pay the County a sum equal to seventy-five percent (75%) of the assigned Deputy SRO’s gross salary and benefits as determined each year by the assigned SRO Deputy's Collective Bargaining Agreement with the County and the Sheriff.” In 2018, "Deputies in Walla Walla County earned an average salary of 74,982...Their benefit package union contract is better than any other county's employee's" (Kimball, 2019, para. 12). In a 2019 interview, Superintendent Wade Smith stated that the Interlocal Agreement with the County and County Sheriff's Office results in Walla Walla Public Schools paying the County about $80,000 a year for the SRO (Hagar, 2019, para. 8). This cost is in addition to the $261,332 the District is already paying to employ six security guards, two of which are stationed at Wa-Hi (Hagar, 2019, para. 7). 

In the same 2019 interview, Superintendent Wade Smith claimed that "Washington state needs to do a better job of making sure school districts can afford adequate school security" (Hagar, 2019, para. 1), when in fact we should be uniting with other Washington state school district's recent efforts, such as the Seattle Public School District, and institutions within our own community, such as Whitman College, to divest from police. 

While public representation surrounding School Resource Officers’ roles within schools, including at Wa-Hi, focuses on their role as “mentor” to youth, the duties of an SRO are that of a police officer. The history of policing demonstrates that “the police exist primarily as a system for managing and even producing inequality by suppressing social movements and tightly managing the behaviors of poor and nonwhite people: those on the losing end of economic and political arrangements” (Vitale, 2017, p. 36). “The massive expansion of school police is predicated on the idea that it makes schools safer, but this just isn’t true. Schools with heavy police presence consistently report feeling less safe than similar schools with no police. There is no evidence that SROs reduce crime” (Vitale, 2017, p. 65). More specifically, research has shown that “the presence of officers in hallways has a profound impact on students of color and those with disabilities, who according to several analyses and studies, are more likely to be harshly punished for ordinary misbehavior” (Goldstein, 2020, para. 10) (see also: Alex Vitale’s chapter 3, “The School-to-Prison Pipeline,” in The End of Policing). “Furthermore, there is a fundamental conflict in asking kids to treat police as mentors and counselors. While officers want young people to confide in them, they are also law enforcement agents, meaning that these communications can be used as evidence and can lead very quickly to police enforcement action, possibly even against the youth being mentored” (Vitale, 2017, p. 66). Police officers are police officers. They are meant to enforce the law, they are not youth mentors and/or counselors. So, this is all to say that the presence of an SRO on Wa-Hi’s campus is in direct conflict with the purposes outlined by the District for hiring an SRO. Not only is “there is a fundamental conflict in asking kids to treat police as mentors and counselors,” or, to use the verbiage of the District itself,  to attempt to “improve the relationship between law enforcement officers and youth,” police on school campuses do not assist in providing a “safe learning environment.” 

Rather than increase funding for the militarized surveillance and policing of people of color within our community, we should be increasing funding for education, as well as resources and services that provide access to affordable housing and shelter, counseling, safe syringe disposal and exchange. Divesting from the Walla Walla Sheriff's Office is something that is critical now as much as ever, as Walla Walla Public Schools navigates the economic impacts of the pandemic. The funding Walla Walla Public Schools puts towards the SRO position should instead be invested in hiring another mental health counselor to meet the needs of Wa-Hi’s 1,500+ student population, and/or hiring a social worker specializing in basic needs access and Walla Walla County resource navigation.

Currently, the Walla Walla Public School District is 4 years into a 10 year contract with the Walla Walla Walla County and Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office. To terminate the contract, Superintendent Wade Smith can follow the directions outlined in section 16.2 of the Interlocal Agreement, which state: “Termination without cause: This agreement may also be terminated, without cause, by either party upon (90) days written notice. In the event this Agreement is terminated, compensation will be made to the County for all services performed under this Agreement up to the specified date of termination.”

Action Steps: 

1. Sign the petition to demand the Walla Walla Public School District end their contract with the Walla Walla Sheriff’s Office and stop funding/remove the police officer at Wa-Hi!
2. Call Superintendent Wade Smith and ask that Walla Walla Public Schools end the contract for the School Resource Officer, and divest fully from the Walla Walla Sheriff's Office: (509) 526-6715 (office)
3. Email Superintendent Wade Smith and ask that Walla Walla Public Schools end their contract for the School Resource Officer position, and divest fully from the Walla Walla Sheriff's Office: wsmith@wwps.org 
4. Please share this petition across your social media accounts, and with friends and family in the Walla Walla!

References:

• Interlocal Agreement Between Walla Walla School District, Walla Walla County, and Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office  https://www.co.wallawalla.wa.us/document_center/sheriff/contract%20agreements/Walla%20Walla%20School%20District%20SRO%20Agreement%20August%202016.pdf
• Kimball's UB article, "Sheriff’s Office funding has been increasing" https://www.union-bulletin.com/top_stories/sheriff-s-office-funding-has-been-increasing/article_8bb0de3a-524a-11e9-a656-27323e0f91fa.html#:~:text=Deputies%20in%20Walla%20Walla%20County,than%20any%20other%20county%20employee's
• Hagar's UB article, "Need seen for state to boost funding for student safety" https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/education/walla_walla/need-seen-for-state-to-boost-funding-for-student-safety/article_b46954c8-7807-11e9-a225-bbbfdd398ff5.html
• Vitale's "The End of Policing" https://libcom.org/files/Vitale%20-%20The%20End%20of%20Policing%20(Police)%20(2017).pdf
• Goldstein's NYT article "Do Police Officers Make Schools Safer or More Dangerous?" https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/us/schools-police-resource-officers.html