
Madison Police Department officer Zulma Franco, a Student Resource Officer at Madison East High School, works during her shift at the school last month. The Madison City Council on Tuesday approved a contract with the school district to continue SROs in the city's four main high schools next year.
A Madison School Board committee has finalized budget recommendations in an effort to maintain the well-being of students in police-free schools, including funds for restorative justice training for staff and increased student mental health support.
The committee, formed less than six months ago, met for the last time Thursday, but the School Board will continue to seek guidance from members as they work to implement recommendations.
“We have to move with a sense of urgency before we open up our schools,” School Board President Gloria Reyes said. “It is time now to put this all together and make these recommendations to the board.”
Recommendations include:
- A three- to five-year plan to implement holistic restorative justice, in which parties to an incident can reconcile, along with the addition of two full-time staff members focused on restorative justice for students in all high schools.
- Facility improvements that include dedicated spaces to support student mental health.
- The establishment of an ongoing advisory group to involve community members, youth and families in punitive measures.
- The creation of a Superintendent Advisory Committee composed of community partners, families and students to develop a plan to enhance student and community roles in school safety.
- A structured debriefing process after each incident involving law enforcement in schools.
- Reduction of class size.
- Continued efforts to develop, recruit and keep staff of color.
- Hiring of additional support staff.
- Committee recommendations will be shared with the full School Board in January for review and discussion with the goal of including them in next year’s budget process.
Savion Castro, committee chair, will update board members on the recommendations before a special meeting at the end of January to present the report to the board. On Feb. 15, the board will have another meeting with public comment to discuss the recommendations before they are included in Superintendent Carlton Jenkins’ first budget.
Members were split on whether the length of time between the committee’s formation and its dissolution was enough to fully flesh out a plan to support safety and security for Madison students.
“We spent decades harming Black children, we spent two, three years on an ERO Ad Hoc Committee and we are supposed to meet in a few months to figure out how to repair all of that,” said Bianca Gomez, committee member and Gender Justice Coordinator with Freedom Inc. “I just don’t think that this is enough time. I think it would be helpful if we could tell the board that these are our preliminary recommendations. … I don’t think that this process was expansive enough to deal with something of this magnitude.”
Castro said members could have the option to join the Superintendent Advisory Committee, which would give them direct access to the implementation of their recommendations.
“Folks who want to be involved on that committee will have access to provide feedback … in terms of how things are being implemented,” he said. “If you identify any policy discrepancies that don’t meet our values, you’ll still be able to make recommendations to the board. … This is not the last that we’ll all be talking about this.”
The Safety and Security Ad Hoc Committee was formed to determine how to best maintain the well-being of students in Madison schools without the presence of police officers.
The School Board voted unanimously to terminate contracts with local law enforcement in June and the City Council voted near unanimously to remove police officers from school buildings over the summer, following protests of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody in May.
Photos: How Midwest schools are navigating COVID-19

Lupe Ramirez speaks at a small rally in front of city hall in East Chicago, Indiana, on Thursday, Nov. 12. She and others were there to speak out against alleged intimidation tactics employed by members of the East Chicago School Board.

Alex Watkins holds a sign at a small rally in front of the East Chicago City Hall on Thursday, Nov. 12. She and a small group gathered to speak out against alleged intimidation tactics employed by members of the East Chicago School Board.

With help from an interactive video board, HAST instructor Mira Projovic lectures remote high school students during a Women's Studies course on Sept. 24 in Hammond, Indiana.

Following a lecture for his science course, Hammond (Indiana) Academy of Science and Technology instructor Steve Grimm gives two thumbs-up to his remote eighth grade students on Sept. 22.

Lowell student fans are spaced apart in the student section as they cheer on the Red Devils against Portage on Aug. 29 in Lowell, Indiana.

Despite the rather unusual conditions, students remain diligent in their studies at Duneland Boys & Girls Club on Aug. 28 in Chesterton, Indiana. Boys & Girls Clubs have stepped up to fill child care needs in virtual learning communities.

A student waits for assistance from a Duneland Boys & Girls Club staff member on Aug. 28 in Chesterton, Indiana. Boys & Girls Clubs have stepped up to fill child care needs in virtual learning communities.

Nurse Lisa Bosnak dons gloves to clean her desk area after a sick student left the nurse's office at Lake Central High School on Aug. 21 in St. John, Indiana. Lake Central students returned to class this week. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Nurse Lisa Bosnak uses disinfectant wipes to clean the area in her office after a sick student was sent home Aug. 21 at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Nurses Carla VanDerNoord, left, and Lisa Bosnak compare notes while updating data related to whether students are on campus or e-learning Aug. 21 at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Nurse Carla VanDerNoord updates student information relating to whether they are on campus or currently e-learning Aug. 21 in the nurse's office at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Munster students use plastic buffer shields and social distancing in Hannah Fus’ American Sign Language class in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

Munster High School students set up three-sided plastic buffers on their desks in Kelly Barnes’ English 9 classroom in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

Munster High School Principal Michael Wells stands in the hallway near the main entrance in August as students pass for their next class. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

Munster High School teacher Kelly Barnes logs in with her virtual learning students during her English 9 class in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

In Central Illinois, a McLean County Unit District No. 5 school bus is operated by a driver wearing a mask on Friday.

Special Education teacher Dustin Underwood fills in as a substitute culinary arts teacher at Normal Community West High School in Central Illinois on Nov. 6.

Vehicles are lined up outside Grove Elementary School in Normal on Oct. 19, the first day of school. Parents were not allowed inside due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Susy Marcum, school nurse at Grove Elementary School in Normal, Illinois, works inside "The Bubble," a quarantine area set up in a classroom for her nurses station on Oct. 19, the first day of school. Students will isolate in the area until a parent can pick him or her up from school.

In Normal, Illinois, Grove Elementary School music teacher Gabe Myers, left, welcomes Laila Abouelmagd, 5, to kindergarten, as her grandmother, Dolores Callahan, and father, Mohamed Abouelmagd, unload her school supplies on Oct. 19.

Karlie Underwood, 17, a senior at Heyworth High School in Central Illinois, makes a podcast on Oct. 16.

Masked students leave Racine Lutheran High School on Thursday afternoon. It might have been one of the last times students at Racine Lutheran will be able to attend classes in person in 2020, since the city of Racine Health Department announced Thursday it would order all schools in its jurisdiction — both public and private — to close their buildings after Thanksgiving.

Madison Preschool of the Arts second-graders -- from left, Carl Pevehouse, Charlotte Austin and Gabe Mahaffey -- work on self-portraits, which includes showing their face masks. The early childhood center on Madison's West Side has pivoted to help families juggling jobs and assisting their elementary-age children with online learning.

Sherry White directs students to and from vehicles and the building on Friday at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois.

Sherry White directs students to vehicles during staggered times to allow safe distance for students at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois.

Third-grader Myleigh Taylor leaves school Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois on Friday.

Fifth-grader Braden Brown heads to his parents' car after school on Friday at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois. Parents pick up students during staggered times.

UW freshmen, from left, Elinor Picek, Lauren Sullivan and Audrey Sarasin use a timer to take photos around Camp Randall prior to kickoff of the Badgers' season opener against Illinois in Madison on Oct. 23. COVID-19 cases and positivity rates have been creeping upward on campus since late last month.

A sign on Madison Area Technical College's Truax campus in October informs students of COVID-19 protocols.

Illinois State University students test for COVID-19 on Aug. 24 in Normal.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, freshman Ramsey Folkerts carries boxes into a dorm Aug. 21 on the campus of Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. The school has had to adapt numerous policies this academic year because of COVID.

Eastern Illinois University students Jenna Decker, from left, Katelyn Montgomery and Madeline McQueen walk around campus on Aug. 20 during move-in day.