Education

La Crosse school board forms police study committee

Published

4 years ago

July 6, 2020

The La Crosse School Board is ready to start studying the future of the district’s program having local police assigned to schools.

Monday night, the board formed the “Fund 80” committee to help decide whether to continue the School Resource Officer program, started in 1993, beyond the next school year.

Board president Laurie Cooper Stoll said the district has already gotten dozens of comments from the public.

New La Crosse superintendent Aaron Engel cites research showing that many minority students are uncomfortable with having officers in school buildings.

“There are some students whose personal experiences with law enforcement have led to negative encounters,” Engel said. “And, when they see a uniformed officer in the building, it brings back some of those feelings and experiences, and it jeopardizes their ability to focus and learn in the classroom.”

Related Topics:aaron engel featured la crosse police la crosse school board School Resource Officers SRO

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.