CPS approves new rules for cops in schools, but concern over 'school-to-prison pipeline' remains

An agreement that set new ground rules for officers working in Chicago Public Schools was approved Wednesday despite months of public scrutiny and heavy criticism from students and one school board member who voted against the measure.

The intergovernmental agreement laid out which scenarios should - and which should not - involve Chicago police officers stationed in schools, how the officers are selected for different schools and how a school can remove its officers.

The new rules came after 19 community meetings held at the end of the last school year and over the summer in which CPS and CPD representatives heard concerns and suggestions for reform.

The plan passed 5-1 at the board of education's monthly meeting, but hours earlier a dozen students stood outside CPS headquarters downtown and urged the school district to keep officers out of schools.

"The truth is, having police officers in school doesn't necessarily mean being safe," said Brenda Leyva, the student representative on the local school council at Roosevelt High School in Albany Park.

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