CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago Public Schools officials said police officers will likely be in some schools that voted them out when students return to full five-day, in-person learning on Monday.
After 53 Local School Councils voted in the spring on whether to maintain their school police programs, 8 schools opted to have no police officers and 23 voted to reduce the number from two to one.
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It was expected that those decisions would take effect at the start of this school year, which begins Monday, Aug. 30.
But the school system’s chief of safety and security Jadine Chou informed principals and Local School Councils, the Chicago Police Department is considering keeping two officers in those 23 schools, at least until there’s an agreement on a new contract.
“Coming out of the pandemic, out of concerns raised by CPD to ensure the safety of schools and their school communities...CPD has directed that they are reviewing their assignments to potentially add a temporary second officer to those 23 schools who elected to only have 1 SRO during the transition back to school,” Chou wrote in a letter to school principals and Local School Councils.
Additionally, Chou added, “It is CPS’ intention to ensure that this is only a temporary arrangement. CPS will not be required to pay for the second officer, and this does not affect the reinvestment funds that have already been transferred to schools.”
According to the Tribune, it is unclear why this temporary addition is only for schools that voted to get rid of one officer, and not for the eight schools that voted to get rid of both.
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