Education

Minneapolis Public Schools Votes To End $1.1M Contract With Police

In voting to end a contract with Minneapolis police, one school board member said it is "completely unnatural" to have officers in schools.

Minneapolis Public Schools Votes To End $1.1M Contract With Police
Star Tribune / AP / Carlos Gonzalez
SMS

Minneapolis Public Schools voted unanimously Tuesday to terminate its $1.1 million contract with the Minneapolis Police Department for security.

Student activists have been working to remove officers from schools for years, arguing the money could be used in other ways. This week's vote came in the wake of the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer. Across the country, activists are seeking to hold law enforcement accountable for brutality against people of color.

The chairwoman of the school board said the Minneapolis police department doesn't share the values of "people and education and life." One board member said she thinks it is "completely unnatural" to have police in schools.

The police provided the schools with officers for decades. Now the school district will have to prepare a new safety plan by mid-August.

Minnesota's governor announced Tuesday the state has filed a human rights complaint against the police department. The state is launching an investigation into the department's "policies, procedures, and practices over the past 10 years."

Contains footage from CNN.