![]() “And so at least we will have a better sense of the officers likely to respond in emergency situations.” “We often had untrained officers not at all familiar with our students showing up,” Curley said. These recommendations will not reach the full committee until after another Special Police Subcommittee meeting one scheduled for Wednesday was canceled when not enough members appeared to make a quorum. They also recommended that the committee directs the superintendent to develop guidance on how school staff should engage the police before a new MOU is adopted. The subcommittee recommended that the full Somerville School Committee adopts a temporary proposal that sees these officers respond in emergency situations. “As we continued our discussions with the city and around the MOU, it’s my decision to place that proposal on hold, pending further developments and refinement,” said Curley, the superintendent. While the full school liaison officer program will not be implemented until an MOU is agreed upon by the superintendent and chief of police, two liaison officers have been identified who work with youth and families. Under the proposed model, an incident would be reported only if it “poses substantial harm to physical well-being,” if it is “willful, malicious and substantial harm to school property,” or the “taking property of substantial value.” It would be based on a model recommended by the state, not on a Middlesex District Attorney model MOU that is currently used, which the district says is outdated.Ĭurrently, 16 different types of incidents from possessing a lighter to assault would involve the police. Interactions between the police department and schools would be governed by the memorandum of understanding being negotiated by the school district, police department and Mayor’s Office, which would be required to be in place before the school liaison officers begin. “Then the Covid-19 pandemic happened, followed by a refocusing of attention on race and policing,” meeting minutes say. The School Committee raised the issue of looking at practice and policies around January 2020. Somerville had a school resource officer from the 1980s until 2020, and they were required by state law between 20, according to the subcommittee. Children under 12 can’t be charged with a crime in Massachusetts, and legal and medical experts suggest the charge of sexual harassment against a first-grader can never be warranted yet a district press release said filing charges followed its guidance as a mandated reporter, which is “not discretionary.” ![]() 12, 2019, on a charge of indecent assault and battery against a friend – bringing national attention to the district and an extended legal conflict. Argenziano School reported a 6-year-old to police Nov. School resource officers were removed from Somerville Public Schools a few months after administrators at the Albert F. The new model would also establish a complaints process and require the release of discipline and policing data. The school community would get to know the officers during structured meetings such as coffee hours, workshops and during extracurricular or athletic activities. ![]() Issues of school discipline would be the responsibility of school administrators. The SLOs would not be stationed at schools, but would be available for emergency situations. The plan, proposed by the district last November, would make the removal of school resource officers permanent and implement a school liaison officer program. (Photo: Stanley Nova via Wikimedia Commons)Ī plan to redefine the relationship between Somerville Public Schools and the Somerville Police Department is on hold for renegotiation, interim superintendent Jeff Curley said at a Special Police Subcommittee meeting held Jan. Argenziano School, site of a controversy in 2019 that involved police. ![]()
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