MPS school resource officer deadline; will city be in compliance?
MPS school resource officer deadline
The court-ordered deadline for resource officers to return to Milwaukee Public Schools was Saturday, March 15.
MILWAUKEE - The court-ordered deadline for resource officers to return to Milwaukee Public Schools was Saturday, March 15. Whether the city is in compliance when students return on Monday remains to be seen.
The backstory:
The city failed to comply with Judge David Borowski's previous deadline, which required school resource officers – or SROs – to return by Feb. 27.
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"I expect my orders to be followed. You don’t have to like them, but they need to be followed," he said last month.
Borowski ordered the city to deploy school resource officers, or show proof of progress, by March 15. If the city fails to do so, it must pay $1,000 each day until it is in compliance with the law.
Judge David Borowski
What they're saying:
Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he's confident the city is on track to comply with a judge's order, and everything will be in place by the time students return on Monday.
"It's what's in the bill, so given that it’s what's in the bill, I wanted to get it accomplished," he said. "That’s exactly where we are now."
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"What I know is SROs and some of our security staff are in training, and we are excited to see this moving forward," said Michael Harris, MPS interim chief school administration officer.
The National Association of School Resource Officers told FOX6 News it has trained 38 officers, each of whom has completed 40 hours of SRO training as of Friday.
What's next:
The case is back in court on Monday for a hearing.
Big picture view:
A state law, passed in 2023, helped municipalities with their budgets. For Milwaukee, it required at least 25 school resource officers to return to MPS by Jan. 1, 2024. When that didn't happen, a parent sued.
In a statement to FOX6, the attorney for the MPS parent show sued said "they are waiting for MPS and the city to comply with the law."
The Source: Information in this report is from the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Public Schools and prior FOX6 News coverage of the order for school resource officers to return to MPS.