A plan to end talks with the Saint Paul Police Department to place up to seven school resource officers in St. Paul school district was approved by the school board in a 5-1 vote Tuesday night.
The vote came following similar moves by the Minneapolis school board and the University of Minnesota to end their agreements with the Minneapolis Police Department following the May 25 killing of George Floyd.
Nearly 130 students and others in favor of the move rallied around St. Paul's Central High School Tuesday. They want to see the $775,000 budget spent on school resources officers in the 2019-2020 school year get spent on hiring teachers of color and other staff to support students.
The St. Paul school board will develop an interim safety plan, without SRO services, that will be discussed at their August meeting. Furthermore, the district is creating a School Climate and Safety Implementation Committee to oversee the district's future safety and climate initiatives.
The Implementation Committee will meet with the board during their December meeting.