Harrisburg High School-John Harris Campus
The Harrisburg School District will move forward with plans to hire police officers for its schools.
On Tuesday, receiver Dr. Lori Suski approved a new safety plan that will bring four police officers and a police station into the district, due to a recent increase in violent incidents.
“Looking at some of the positive factors of having police presence in the schools is the extra layer of security and protection for the students and the staff,” Suski said.
At a board meeting last week, the district presented the plan, citing a significant issue with violence in the schools, expulsions and often slow city police response times.
Under the plan, the district plans to hire four officers of its own to help with high-level incidents such as drug use, weapons and physical violence. They will also help implement educational programming and patrol buildings.
Two officers are slated to be stationed at Harrisburg High School-John Harris Campus, one at Camp Curtin Middle School and one will float between the elementary buildings.
Current safety monitors and coordinators will still be employed and present at each school. However, district officials explained that officers are needed to handle violent incidents, such as those including weapons, that safety monitors are not equipped or trained for.
Also under the plan, the district will spend $441,507 to convert empty classroom space in John Harris into a police headquarters.
Officials said the plan will be phased in beginning during the 2025-26 school year. In the meantime, they will begin looking for candidates.
“If we look at the situation, I think we would all agree that safety and security for the students in the Harrisburg School District, K-12, is of utmost seriousness,” said board member Ellis Roy. “It has gotten far worse today than it was in my time, so then our approach has to be different. We must move with the times.”
However, Suski mentioned last week that, during town hall meetings held over the past few years on the matter, community members have shown concern over creating a “school-to-prison” pipeline. On Tuesday, several board members expressed similar concerns.
“I remember the programs that we had as far as the D.A.R.E program and the junior police cadet program, but we never had a police station in the school,” said school board director Brian Carter. “To that extent of having a police station in the school district, I’m not in agreement with.”
Board member Danielle Robinson expressed skepticism of the plan, saying that she felt the decision was rushed and board members weren’t given enough details on how the safety plan would operate procedurally.
“You can’t tell me that you’re building a police station in a high school and tell me there is no school-to-prison pipeline. That right there doesn’t make any sense to me,” she said.
However, other board members noted that, with its own employees, the district may have greater control over who is selected for the positions and how the officers perform, rather than relying on the Harrisburg Police Bureau.
“We don’t want folks to be protected and then incarcerated. We want to protect people’s lives not ruin people’s lives,” said board member Autumn Anderson. “So, for us, it’s about doing due diligence and designing a program that does that first part, protecting, providing guardianship […] not making it so students then have fear about what’s going to happen to the rest of their lives.”
After hearing board members’ concerns, Suski added two conditions to her approval of the plan. She tasked the district with assembling an advisory committee made up of board and community members, as well as requiring that the district implement restorative justice practices, such as providing mental health support for students. She also said that construction on a police station will not begin until more conversations are had.
“The more restorative practices you have, the less policing you will need, that’s what it boils down to,” she said. We need to address the mental health of our students […] but we also know that we cannot allow students to behave in some of the ways that they’re behaving because it is disruptive to the learning of others. So, we have to do something.”
Also on Tuesday, Suski approved the termination of a license agreement with Harrisburg-based Wildheart Ministries, which allowed the organization to operate the district’s Joshua Farm property at 213 S. 18th St.
The contract was originally instated in May 2023, terminated briefly in June due to concerns over the way the organization was using the property, and reinstated in August after Suski learned that Wildheart had received a federal grant for the farm. On Tuesday, the district originally proposed also declaring the property as unnecessary, which would allow them to move towards selling the land. However, Suski removed that portion of the resolution after several board members said they opposed a sale and wanted to see the land retained for educational purposes.
In other school board news, Suski declared a vacancy on the school board, following the passing of longtime director Jim Thompson earlier this month. Suski said that the district will accept letters of interest from now through Dec. 6. Then, at a Dec. 10 school board meeting, the board and administration will interview candidates. Suski will solicit feedback from the board directors and then appoint a board member to be sworn in that night. That director would serve until Dec. 1, 2025.
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