Wisconsin parents win lawsuit to reinstate school safety officers

Wisconsin parents have won their lawsuit against Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) over safety, and the ruling requires the district to rehire school safety officers.

The lawsuit was originally filed in the fall of 2024 by parents who were deeply concerned about violence in the district.

“I’m absolutely concerned for the safety of my children that attend MPS with no security resource officers in the school,” Charlene Abughrin, one of the plaintiffs, told local media. “These are actual crimes that these kids are committing.  

“They’re assaulting kids. They’re assaulting teachers, and they’re getting away with it.” 

The issue began in 2020, when MPS cut ties with the Milwaukee Police Department. A 2023 state bill required the district to rehire 25 school resource officers (SROs) by January, but the district failed to do so. 

And MPS board members made it crystal clear they didn’t want to play ball.  

“Moving slowly on this, I think, is an indication of the thoughtfulness that’s going into this, but mostly the resistance that we’re being forced to do this,” MPS board member Marcela Garcia explained.  

“I don’t say that we should not have an SRO program,” added another board member, Henry Leonard, “although I don’t personally want them in our buildings, if at all possible.”  

Now a judge has ruled in favor of MPS parents, ordering the district to have SROs back in schools by Feb. 27. 

The financial cost of the officers will be split between the district and the city of Milwaukee. 

“It should have never come to this, and we are pleased to see the judge act so definitively to move us closer to a resolution,” said Lauren Greuel of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and counsel for the plaintiffs. “Now is the time for MPS to end the excuses and delays and follow the law by taking basic steps to protect kids going to school.” 

According to the city’s police department, there is zero doubt that MPS needs in-school security officers.  

In 2024, the Milwaukee Police Association reported being called to district schools over 3,000 times during the 2023-24 school year – an average of nearly 20 calls per school day. The urban district has about 68,000 students in 150 schools. 

“[Police are] getting taken out from other parts of the neighborhoods that are having other issues and then getting rerouted to go to all these schools,” explained the president of the police union, Alexander Ayala. “If we had school resource officers already in place, those school resource officers could be going to these calls instead of pulling from other districts or the districts that have limited staffing.”  

However, plaintiff Abughrin still isn’t convinced MPS will do the right thing.  

“I’m excited that they were able to make the call, but I’m still doubtful that MPS is going to comply,” she told local media after the ruling. 

Meanwhile, an MPS spokesperson said the district would comply with the order “as soon as officers are made available by the City of Milwaukee.” 

The city’s school board voted unanimously Thursday in favor of funding for the officers.