Republicans Pass Bill Requiring Schools with Repeated Crimes and Arrests to Hire Police Officers

Thursday, March 16th, 2023 -- 12:00 PM

(By Shawn Johnson, Wisconsin Public Radio) Schools with repeated reports of crimes and arrests would be required to hire police officers under a Republican bill that passed the state Assembly Tuesday.

According to Shawn Johnson with Wisconsin Public Radio, GOP lawmakers also passed a plan that would require public and private high schools to record incidents of violent crime and disorderly conduct on their annual school report cards.

Republicans described both measures as attempts to reclaim safe learning environments, while Democrats attacked them as political ploys designed to stoke fears rather than give schools what they need to solve problems. Both plans head next to the state Senate and could eventually be headed toward vetoes by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The bill requiring schools to hire police officers as armed school resource officers would apply to districts where 100 or more incidents occur in public school buildings or on school grounds during a semester, and at least 25 of those incidents result in an arrest. Under the bill, "incident" would include state and local disorderly conduct laws as well as crimes like sexual assault and battery.

The plan would require the state Department of Public Instruction to partially reimburse school that enter into contracts with police officers using funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, or ARPA.

Evers vetoed numerous bills involving ARPA funding last session. Under current law, the authority over how to spend those funds rests with the governor.

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