Growing chorus of parents demand Los Angeles put police back in schools: Violence has 'become the norm'
The Los Angeles Unified School District is facing growing pressure from parents to reinstate police officers in schools.
Two LAUSD parents spoke out on "Fox & Friends First" Wednesday on the increasing concerns about their children’s safety and exposure to violence and drugs while at school.
"High school, middle school students, they bring home videos that the kids have taken on campus of fights – very, very, intense fights – with groups of kids fighting and a kid on the ground, other kids jumping on top of them, for example," L.A. mother Maria Luisa Palma explained.
The school board voted unanimously in February 2021 to do away with officers stationed in schools, but a safety board is now asking that individual schools be allowed to make the decision for themselves.
However, the school board already rejected a similar resolution in September 2021.
"This has become the norm here," Palma said. "The district is normalizing this type of violence, and we hear it from our kids. And now we have the data that was just released in mid-April that confirms what we've been hearing anecdotally from our children."
LAUSD reported significant increases in reports of violence, illegal substances, threats and weapons brought onto campuses in the 2022-2023 school year.
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The release of the latest data prompted parents to voice their concerns at a school board meeting Tuesday, again calling for additional safety measures.
"How many students have to die so that you are able to do something? We need to have the school police in all the schools," one parent said.
"How long before you come down to our level from your ideological castles in the sky, and listen and act in the best interest of our community? The communities that put you in these positions. How much longer? What else is it that we have to do?" Palma said at the meeting.
Shiva Bagheri, another parent in the Los Angeles Unified School District, said the "defund police" movement is to blame for the "lawlessness" in both schools and the state as a whole.
"It's just a bunch of crazy people that are ruining our streets," she said. "My daughter saw two armed robberies in broad daylight. So, of course we need the police there. That's the only way as parents are going to feel that our kids are safe at school."
Palma has launched an online petition demanding the return of police officers in schools.
"It's heart-wrenching to feel that we take such pains, we make huge investments in our children to keep them safe at home. Everything we do for our kids, just to think that at school they're going to be exposed to drugs in the bathrooms, which is what the kids tell us. That they're going to be witnessing close up the violence and the fights that are out of control," she said.
The key, Palma explained, is discipline and consequences.
"That's what's missing."
"As [LAUSD] moved from a suspension discipline environment to what they call now a restorative justice and positive behavior support discipline policy, which we believe is not working. So there are no deterrents to keep the kids from acting out," she said.
Palma believes students, including her own son, are suffering academically as a result.
"How can kids concentrate on developing their academic capabilities when the schools are not safe?"