Minneapolis school district terminates contract with police

The school board voted unanimously to no longer work with the police department following the death of George Floyd

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Protesters gather at a memorial for George Floyd where he died outside Cup Foods on East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, Monday, June 1, 2020, in Minneapolis. Image: AP Photo/John Minchillo

Ryan Faircloth
Star Tribune

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis school board voted unanimously Tuesday to terminate its contract with the Minneapolis Police Department, in response to the death of George Floyd under a police officer’s knee.

Minneapolis Public Schools will cease further negotiations with the police department and Superintendent Ed Graff must come up with a new plan for school safety by the board’s Aug. 18 meeting.

“I value people and education and life,” school board chairwoman Kim Ellison said in an interview. “Now I’m convinced, based on the actions of the Minneapolis Police Department, that we don’t have the same values.”

“I firmly believe that it is completely unnatural to have police in schools,” school board member Kimberly Caprini said during the meeting.

The Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts have long faced criticism over the use of school resource officers, with both seeking to transform the role to be more of a mentor than an enforcer. In 2018-2019, a Minneapolis Public Schools survey gave mostly positive marks to the officers, but the data also showed that school officers had more interactions with black students than their peers.

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