Bellingham Schools make these changes in response to local systemic racism protests
Bellingham Public Schools announced Thursday, July 16, that it has put its first responder lunch program on hold but will continue to have a district-wide police resource officer, according to a news release from Superintendent Greg Baker.
The first responder lunch program, which included police, EMTs and firefighters eating lunch with students, has been put on hiatus in light of nationwide protests and calls to remove law enforcement from schools.
“This may help limit the worry and anxiety that some students have reported,” Baker states in the release.
No other details about the program, or how long the hiatus might last, were included in Baker’s announcement.
The Bellingham Herald has reached out to Bellingham Public Schools, the Bellingham Police Department and the Bellingham Fire Department for comment and more information.
The first responder lunch program welcomed any first responder to have lunch with the students. It was optional for students to engage with the first responder, not required, according to information on the school district’s website. The first responder lunch program is funded through grant money, which covers the $4 cost of the meal.
Nationwide protests began in late May after George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Several protests against systemic racism and injustice experienced by people of color and in support of defunding police have been held locally. There’s been no uniformed officers present at any of the local protests.
In Baker’s announcement, he says it’s important to understand the history of policing in the United States. Baker links to a CBS video that describes the history of policing, which explains that law enforcement started out as slave patrols in the 1700s.
“Like many institutions, including education, racism is embedded within organizations and systems,” Baker said in the release.
Baker states in the release that he spoke to a family who moved to Bellingham recently from the southern U.S. and how their experiences, and the experiences of extended family members, have taught them to fear police.
“The pain and fear of police for them is powerful and palpable,” Baker states in the release. “We have students in our district who acknowledge this fear as well, whether from personal experiences here or elsewhere.”
Baker also stated in the release that the district would continue to have a district resource officer “after deep thought into the complexity of the issue and considering what is best for our community as a whole.” There is one district resource officer for all 23 schools in the Bellingham school district. The school pays for half of the resource officer’s position, while the Bellingham Police Department pays for the other half, according to a Bellingham Public Schools webpage on the position.
Baker said while there is work to do to rely less on the resource officer, he believes “police provide vital support to our staff and students.” He said the resource officer often helps students who have been victims of a crime, and that police officers are also parents, neighbors and part of our community. For some, police officers being present in school is a sense of security in light of school shootings and other violent incidents, Baker said in the release.
“It is not a single person where the concern lies; rather, it is the broader position of an armed officer in schools,” Baker said in the release.
Baker stated in the release that the school district will improve the way it collects and uses data to help shape the role and responsibility of the resource officer. The district is also hiring its first mental health coordinator and is looking to hire a mental health specialist and director for equity, diversity and inclusion, according to Baker’s announcement.
“All of these positions add capacity to support students in crisis and deemphasize the use of officers,” Baker said in the release.
Bellingham Public Schools will also provide more training in how to access resources outside of the resource officer to leaders and staff, Baker’s announcement states.
