The Police Free LAUSD Coalition aims to create holistically safer, welcoming, and affirming campuses for all students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Our coalition works with students, families, educators, and advocates to create and support programming and services at LAUSD schools that improve school climate, safeguard community safety, and support academic achievement – all of which act as violence prevention in schools (for a full statement of the Coalition’s guiding values, see our report From Criminalization to Education: A Community Vision for Safe Schools in LAUSD).

First, our coalition extends our deepest condolences to the families in our community that have recently experienced the loss of a child--one of the greatest tragedies a family can endure. We are saddened by the unfortunate events that lead to the deaths of LAUSD students Elijah McGinnis III from George Washington HS and Shaylee Mejia from Manual Arts HS. The community violence that took their lives is rooted in widespread generational trauma and anger brought on by community conditions devoid of adequate support and resources. We know what a harrowing time this can be and took a pause in our response to respect the mourning and honoring of these young people's lives. During this time we also waited for the LAUSD’s response, hoping they would renew their commitment to implementing an evidence-based community-based safety plan. Unfortunately, instead of taking accountability for the failure and lack of urgency in developing community-based holistic safety systems, the District has begun to re-center police in its response to enduring trauma and lack of mental health support that is plaguing the children and families in our communities. Some media outlets, pro-police groups, and mis-informed parents have begun to highlight the recent increase in school violence, but have completely ignored the fact that suicide risk has remained at the top of all school incident report data in LAUSD since 2017-18. This has remained true above fights, threats, drugs, and weapons, underscoring the prevailing need for mental health and community based safety strategies to be at the center of LAUSD’s response to student misbehavior.

We cannot prevent violence by introducing more weapons and more violence in schools, particularly when our Black, Indigenous, and other students of color will be forced to bear the brunt of it. There is ample evidence that school police presence has negative impacts on students, especially Black students and students with disabilities. Superintendent Carvahlo’s Community-Based Safety Plan, released May 7, 2024, completely neglected to demonstrate how LAUSD will build up a systematic approach to community-based safety.