Black Organizing Project in Oakland, CA: After 10 years of organizing led by the Black Organizing Project, the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education will vote on the George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland Unified School District Police Department on June 24th, 2020. The Oakland Unified School District spends $6.5 million on policing and surveilling Oakland students. The district has both their own police department and a contract with Oakland Police Department. The resolution would eliminate the school police department and direct the Superintendent to reallocate funds previously used for sworn police officers toward student support positions such as school-based social workers, psychologists, restorative justice practitioners, or other mental or behavioral health professionals, as the budget supports, to meet the needs of students. It would also direct the Superintendent to launch, by no later than July 17, 2020, an inclusive, community-driven process – involving parents, students, teachers, school administrators, student support staff, the Black Organizing Project, and other community partners – for completing a revised District safety plan with strategies for enhancing student learning, safety, and well-being within the District.

Flood the online school board meeting, call-in and testify on behalf of Black Organizing Project - demand the school board approve the George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland Unified School District Police Department with no revisions, not police at the discussion table, and no hybrid models! The district must implement the People’s Plan for Police Free Schools!

A Coalition of Community Organizations in Chicago, IL: More than a dozen Chicago organizations, including members of the Police Free Schools Coalition, are mobilizing for this noon caravan and march on July 24th, 2020. Chicago, like the rest of the country, is in the mindset of two pandemics: COVID-19 and police terror. Yet Mayor Lightfoot has vowed to reopen schools this fall, without guaranteeing all the necessary health measures are in place. At the same time, the mayor spent $33 million last year on cops in our schools, despite the documented harm to Black and Brown students, who are four times more likely than white students to face criminalization. Chicago communities are demanding the mayor and the school board pull police out of schools, and use the $33 million CPS allocated to the CPD instead on measures that make schools safer for students; guarantee that our schools will have what they need to open safely this fall, including adequate cleaning for our schools; adequate soap, water and disinfectant for students and workers; PPE for all; temperature checks and adequate staffing of health professionals in our school buildings; and social distancing strategies that protect students, their families and workers - including with smaller class sizes with ratios of 1:10-15; invest in Sustainable Community Schools as a condition for reopening schools this fall; and invest in affordable housing and economic development for students and their families. Sign up to participate and get more info at this link!