A Lawrence police car is seen parked in front of Lawrence High School in 2014.
A state commission focused on racial equity in justice believes Kansas schools should consider using counselors and social workers to help address conflicts in schools rather than using police officers.
Gov. Laura Kelly’s Commission on Racial Equity and Justice made the recommendation in its initial report that was recently released. Kelly put the commission together in response to civil unrest throughout the country earlier this year related to the deaths of Black men and women at the hands of the police.
The commission provided many recommendations to improve racial equity in different aspects of the state’s criminal justice system. One of the topics the report focused on was the use of school resource officers, also known as SROs, in public schools.