Police in schools

Guns in school.jpg a group of fayette county public school students want police out of their schools.

They told abc 36's christy bollinger having officers in schools doesn't reduce crime...it just creates a culture of violence.

L3: abc 36 news white students want police out of schools lexington l3: abc 36 news white micheline karanga junior - student organizer l3: abc 36 news white students want police out of schools lexington l3: abc 36 news white katie chamberlain grassroots law project l3: abc senior, bryan station high school l3: abc 36 news white students want police out of schools lexington it's tough being a black girl in a mostly white school.

...and lafayette junior micheline karanga...says school resource officers don't make her feel safe... but instead cause fear.

Student organizer- micheline karanga"the presence of school officers really harm students, especially students of color and with disabilities."

That's why she and several other students are working with parents, educators...and a national law project to reduce the number of officers in fayette county schools.

The district has its own police force...five officers per high school... six covering 12 middle schools.

...and the 10-point safety plan approved last year would place another officer in every middle and elementary school.

According to the district's 2020-2021 salary schedule... officers make 54-84k while teachers' salaries range from 42-92k.

Law project-katie chamberlain"so teachers are starting at a much lower salary and have to have way more years of experience and higher degrees to get to that higher salary that 92k gap."

They want that money used to address the root of crime.

Student-ben shapere"we want that funding to go to teachers, school pyschologists, social workers and administrators who can really build that connection with high schoolers and build these community solutions that we want to see."

The groups knows state law requires one officer in each school... so that's what they want... just one..

Only to respond to active shooter situations.

Chamberlain"as we're in our communities reimagining public safety we want to reimagine what school safety is and how we can make that more inclusive."

Christy bollinger, abc 36 news.

Ots image:right police in schools guns in school.jpg we asked the district and its police force how it feels about the project.

We haven't received a response yet...but i've talked to officers before who feel their role in schools is valuable...and goes beyond offering protection.

They say a lot of what they do is about building relationships with students...to ensure their success and