Back in November 2019, an incident occurred in an elementary school in Somerville which triggered the formation of this group. This incident was not the first nor the last incident of police engaging in our schools and with our students in ways which create harm. Over the past years we (parents, teachers, school staff, community members, students) have organized with each other to learn more about what is happening and start to work towards a better future. 

Press coverage of that initial incident and aftermath:

• A Somerville mother is stunned: How can school officials accuse her 6-year-old son of sexual misconduct and report him to the police?

• After calling the police on a 6-year-old boy, Somerville files lawsuit to keep police report secret while DCF moves to expunge its records

• They called the police on a 6-year-old. Now, Somerville school leaders are suspending school police programs

• 2018 - 2019 School Year - Somerville High School students survey themselves (for the second time in 5 years) around the topic of police:student interactions due to persistent ongoing racism & biased treatment of students at the High School

• Nov 2019 - Staff at the Argenziano School (an elementary & middle school) call the Somerville police on a 6 year child. 

• 2020 & 2021 & 2022 - Parents organize around the issue of police in Somerville schools, and put pressure on Mayor, School Committee Members and district leadership to end police programs in school - delivering hundreds of signatures & comments in support of creation of safe schools oriented around non-carceral learning & discipline

• May 2021 - The SRO program at Somerville High School is temporarily suspended via a vote of the School Committee

• January 2022 - The School Committee forms a special committee on police to decide on a new policy for police interactions in our schools.

• February 2022 - The Safe Schools Somerville (fka "Justice for Flavia") wrote and shared "The People’s MOU" which, if implemented, would end the SRO program and limit police interaction in schools to the bare minimum under state law. This MOU is available for ANY community in Massachusetts to implement.

• Nov 2022 - Special Policing Subcommittee public forum held; EVERY SINGLE comment (17!) was against police in schools!

• December 2022 - Mayor Ballantyne & the Chief of Police (through Interim Supt Jeff Curley) recommended a policy to the special committee. This policy both reflects some of our hard work to move the needle to keep police out of schools, and is still deeply problematic (see our talking points in the "Resources" section). 

• January 2023 - the Special Policing subcommittee deliberates and recommends a policy and MOU approach to the School Committee.

• March 6 2023 - The School Committee unanimously votes to permanently remove police from Somerville schools (after hearing public comment from over a dozen Safe Schools Somerville supporters!) Details on the recommendations can be found in the Resources & Links section of this website.

• Today - you reach out and get involved!

Today we are working to holistically create safe school environments for our students, teachers & staff. We are doing this through a variety of means - advocacy with our elected officials and the district staff, organizing amongst ourselves and with other groups, and learning from other efforts to be able to share with our local community.