Black Girls' Contact with Police in Schools
State-by-State Overview
Introduction
Black girls are facing a crisis of criminalization in schools. Across the country, Black girls[1] are being handcuffed and arrested at their schools at exorbitant rates. In September 2019, six-year-old Kaia Rolle was arrested, her hands restrained by zip ties as she cried and begged not to go and for the officer to “give [her] a second chance.” She was charged with misdemeanor battery after throwing a tantrum at school during which she “reportedly punched and kicked school staff.” In his haste to arrest, the arresting officer neglected to follow proper protocol, resulting in his termination—but no further documented consequences. Kaia, on the other hand, was left with post-traumatic stress disorder and struggles to keep up in school.
Beyond tantrums and fights, Black girls are also arrested in schools, sometimes violently, for sleeping in a classroom (Ashlynn Avery), encouraging students to record the violent arrest of another student (Niya Kenny), having a phone out during school (Dnigma Howard), and being present (not participating) during a fight off-campus (three unnamed girls, in 3rd, 4th, and 6th grades). Ashlynn Avery and Dnigma Howard were both students with individual education plans (IEPs)—and, in the case of the former, her documented disabilities likely played a direct role in the behavior that led to her arrest. These arrests are not only traumatizing for Black girls, but they also have very real physical consequences—injuries requiring medical attention, therapy costs, moving schools, negative academic outcomes, and criminal charges (with some, like Niya Kenny, being charged as adults) that push them into the legal system.
It’s not only school arrests where Black girls are disproportionately impacted. Black girls remain overrepresented across the school discipline continuum—from corporal punishment to suspensions and expulsions, to referrals to law enforcement and arrests. Research suggests that the racial gender bias against Black girls contributes to more severe punishments for them than their peers, especially white peers, in response to subjective offenses such as defiance, disruptive behavior, and dress code violations. Adultification bias—the perception of Black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than white girls of the same age—primes educators and school officials to view Black girls as more culpable for typical adolescent behavior (for example, talking back, acting out, cursing, etc.) and, therefore, dole out more and harsher punitive responses than they would to white peers for the same behaviors.
In addition to enduring the consequences of adultification bias, Black girls are also often punished in school for communicating or acting in ways that challenge traditional feminine norms, where women and girls “show respect by being seen, not heard and obedient, not recalcitrant.” In focus group studies, Black girls have described being punished for “having an attitude” when they were simply speaking and challenging a teacher when they expressed opinions—events that researchers also link to educators’ misunderstanding of Black culture and mannerisms.
Punitive responses to behavior, fueled by racial and gender biases, push Black girls out of school and, often, into the legal system. When students are removed from the classroom—through detention, suspensions, or expulsions—it leads to poorer student achievement and a greater likelihood of failing to complete school. When students are disconnected from school, they are at increased risk for depression, poor mental health outcomes, substance misuse, and contact with police and the juvenile and criminal legal systems. This is especially true when the punishment is a criminalizing response—such as a referral to law enforcement, which includes school-based arrests.
A growing body of evidence documents these pathways, troubling disparities, and lasting impacts of these school discipline practices. This report examines the race and gender disparities of school referrals to law enforcement and school-based arrests—these are the discipline sanctions that most directly push Black girls out of the classroom and into the legal system. We analyze 2017-2018 data from the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection, which collects data every other year from the nation’s public schools on measures related to education quality, including enrollment, class availability, staffing, and disciplinary action.[2]
Overview of Our Analysis
We begin with a national overview of the racial disparities of girls’ police contact in schools by first presenting the national percentages of Black and white girls’ referrals to law enforcement and school-related arrests relative to their enrollment. We then present a comparison between the nationwide rates of referrals to law enforcement and school-related arrests for Black and white girls per 1,000 female students. Our national analysis concludes with a focus on Black girls with disabilities, showing their risk of being referred to law enforcement and arrested at school compared to Black girls without disabilities.
We then present a state-by-state analysis of Black girls’ referrals to law enforcement and school-related arrests, respectively. Each section begins with the composition indices—or the difference between the percentage of girls of a particular race enrolled in a state compared to the percentage of girls of that race referred to law enforcement or arrested. These are the most commonly used measures of disproportionality within the field of education. By subtracting Black girls’ share of female student enrollment from their share of female referrals to law enforcement, we can measure the degree of disproportionality—or the extent to which Black girls are overrepresented—in referrals to law enforcement.
We then compared Black girls’ rates of referrals to law enforcement and school-based arrests with those of girls of other races and ethnicities using risk ratios, a way to compare the risks of an outcome between two groups. A few important notes about risk ratios to keep in mind:
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A risk ratio (or relative risk) of 1 suggests little to no difference in Black girls’ risk of referral to law enforcement or arrest relative to the comparison group of girls, meaning the rates of referrals or arrests are the same.
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Risk ratios less than 1 suggest reduced risk
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Risk ratios greater than 1 suggest a higher risk for Black girls and can be interpreted as Black girls having “x” times the risk of being referred to law enforcement or arrested compared to white girls.
We then explore factors that may contribute to Black girls' overrepresentation in referrals to law enforcement and school-related arrests, and we conclude with a case example of a grassroots organizing campaign for police-free schools.
A Note About the Data
The analysis in this brief covers the 2017-2018 school year. While the 2020-21 school year data became available late in the development of this brief, the COVID-19 pandemic made that year’s data anomalous, and Department of Education officials have warned against comparing the data to previous report years. Most schools were either virtual or hybrid for most (if not all) of the year; therefore, many students were not actually going to school and were not referred to law enforcement or arrested. The 2020-21 school year saw approximately 61,900 students referred to law enforcement and 8,900 school-related arrests, compared to the 2017-2018 numbers of 221,303 and 52,300, respectively. About 32% of each were females, with Black girls making up 20% of female referrals and 24% of female school-related arrests. Although these disparities are similar to those of previous years, the data overall is so inconsistent with the norm that it makes any comparisons with “normal” school years unreliable.
Finally, the Civil Rights Data Collection data, while being one of the only datasets that enables this level and type of analysis, is flawed. Inconsistencies in reporting referrals and arrests occur at the school, district, and state levels, leading to what is likely a lot of undercounting. This is especially visible in large districts. For example, in the 2017-2018 dataset on which this analysis is based, the New York City and Pittsburgh school districts reported zero school-related arrests to the CRDC, despite local/state data (police department records in New York City and Pennsylvania Department of Education Records for Pittsburgh) showing otherwise.
National Analysis
Nationwide, Black girls disproportionately experience both school-related arrests and referrals to law enforcement compared to their enrollment.
Nationwide in the 2017-2018 school year, female students made up about 30% of students referred to law enforcement (67,638 of 221,303) and those who experienced a school-related arrest (16,019 of 52,300). Across the 50 states, our data analysis showed stark disparities in Black girls’ experience of referrals to law enforcement and school-related arrests when compared to girls of other races, especially white girls.
Figure 1
Figure 1 compares the national percentages of Black and white girls referred to law enforcement or arrested, relative to their enrollment during the 2017-2018 school. The chart shows that Black girls are disproportionately represented in both school-related referrals to law enforcement and school-related arrests compared to their enrollment. Despite making up only 15.2% of female students enrolled, they make up 32.5% of female students who were referred to law enforcement and 36% of female students who experienced a school-related arrest—more than two times their percentage of female enrollment. Conversely, white girls are underrepresented in these categories compared to their enrollment.
Nationwide, Black girls are 3 times more likely to be referred to law enforcement or arrested at school than white girls.
Figure 2
Figure 2 illustrates the nationwide rates of referrals to law enforcement and school-related arrests for Black and white girls per 1,000 female students. It shows that in the 2017-2018 school year, Black girls were referred to law enforcement at a rate of 5.9 out of 1,000 female students, while white girls were referred to law enforcement at a rate of 1.9 out of 1,000 white female students. Relatedly, Black girls were arrested at school at a rate of 1.5 per 1,000 students, compared to white girls’ arrest rate of 0.4 per 1,000 students. This data highlights significant disparities in both referral and arrest rates, with Black girls more than 3 times more likely to be referred to law enforcement or arrested at school compared to white girls nationally.
State-by-State Analysis
Referrals to Law Enforcement
Referral to law enforcement is “an action by which a student is reported to any law enforcement agency or official, including a school police unit, for an incident that occurs on school grounds, during school-related events (in-person or virtual), or while taking school transportation, regardless of whether official action is taken,” as defined by the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection. Such referrals can include “[c]itations, tickets, court referrals, and school-related arrests.”[3]
Among all girls, Black girls are overrepresented among referrals to law enforcement in most states.
Nationally, Black girls make up 15% of female student enrollment, the third highest among all racial groups. However, they constitute 33% of female referrals to law enforcement, more than double their enrollment percentage. This indicates a significant overrepresentation of Black girls in law enforcement referrals.
Comparatively, Black girls are overrepresented in 76% of states (38 out of 50) by at least 5 percentage points, while white girls are underrepresented in 80% of states (40 out of 50) by the same margin. We measured the disproportionality of referrals on a state-by-state basis by comparing Black girls’ enrollment to their referral rates.
Figure 3
Figure 3 shows the difference between the percentage of Black girls’ enrollment in schools and their percentage of female referrals to law enforcement by state, sorted from highest to lowest. It highlights the overrepresentation of Black girls in law enforcement relative to their enrollment.
Key points:
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Maryland has the highest disparity, as Black girls make up 34.3% of girls enrolled and 66.5% of girls referred to law enforcement—a 32.2 percentage point difference. Illinois closely follows with a disparity of 31.9 percentage points.
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Black girls were overrepresented in referrals to law enforcement relative to their enrollment by at least 25 percentage points in Delaware (28.7), New York (27.5), Alabama (26.7), Pennsylvania (25.7), and Louisiana (25.6).
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In addition to the aforementioned states, Georgia (24.1), Minnesota (24.0), Virginia (23.6), South Carolina (23.4), North Carolina (21.7), New Jersey (21.7), Florida (20.2), and Iowa (18.2) have disparities that exceed the United States average of 17.32 percentage points.
Oregon shows the largest negative disparity, with Black girls being referred to law enforcement 1.79 percentage points less than their enrollment percentage, indicating an underrepresentation in referrals compared to their enrollment. Hawaii, Arkansas, Alaska, and New Mexico also show negative disparities between enrollment and referrals.
Figure 4
Figure 4 shows the percentage of Black girls among all girls referred to law enforcement by state, sorted by highest composition to the lowest.
Key points:
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Louisiana has the highest percentage, with 69.39% of female referrals to law enforcement being Black girls. Maryland and Mississippi follow closely, with 66.5% and 64.8%, respectively.
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Black girls make up more than half of all the girls referred to law enforcement in four more states—Georgia (61.1%), Alabama (59.7%), Delaware (59.3%), and South Carolina (57.5%).
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Black girls make up less than 1% of female referrals to law enforcement in Oregon (0.6%) and Hawaii (0.4%). However, Black girls also make up negligible amounts of female student enrollment in these states (2.4% and 1.8%, respectively).
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With the exception of Illinois, where Black girls make up about 49% of all girls referred to law enforcement, the top 10 states where Black girls make up the highest percentage of referrals to law enforcement are in the Southern region of the United States.[4] Pennsylvania (40.5%), New Jersey (37.2%), and New York (44.7%) also stand out as non-southern states where Black girls comprise especially large and disproportionate portions of referrals.
Black girls are more at risk of being referred to law enforcement than white girls in all but seven states.
Figure 5
Figure 5 shows the risk ratio of Black girls' being referred to law enforcement compared to white girls across all 50 states, sorted from highest to lowest. The risk ratio indicates how much more likely Black girls are to be referred to law enforcement than white girls in each state. A risk ratio of less than one means that Black girls in the state were less likely to be referred to law enforcement than white girls. A risk ratio close to one indicates that Black and white girls’ risk of being referred to law enforcement was approximately equal. In total, Black girls were at least 1.5 times more likely than white girls to be referred to law enforcement in 43 states. Among these states, Black girls’ relative risk for referrals to law enforcement ranged from 1.5 to 7.9 times more than white girls. Specifically, we found that:
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Illinois has the highest risk ratio, with Black girls being nearly eight times more likely to be referred to law enforcement compared to white girls.
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In addition to Illinois, Black girls were at least five times more likely than white girls to be referred to law enforcement in Iowa, Minnesota, and New York.
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Black girls’ risk of being referred to law enforcement compared to white girls exceeded the national average of 3.01 in 17 states.
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In total, compared to white girls, Black girls were more than twice as likely to be referred to law enforcement in 33 states.
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Black girls were less likely than white girls to be referred to law enforcement in Hawaii (0.4) and Oregon (0.2), both states where Black girls’ enrollment is low compared to white girls. In both Hawaii and Oregon, Black girls make up approximately 2% of enrollment, while white girls make up 12.2% in Hawaii and 61.7% in Oregon.
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There was no significant difference between Black and white girls’ rates of referral to law enforcement in Arkansas (0.9), Washington (0.9), New Mexico (1.1), Vermont (1.2), and Michigan (1.2), meaning the risk of Black and white girls being referred to law enforcement in these states were about the same.[5]
Additionally, we found that compared to other girls of color, Black girls were:
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At least two times more likely to be referred to law enforcement in eight states—Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma.
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More likely to be referred to law enforcement in 25 states.[6]
School-Related Arrests
A school-related arrest refers to an arrest of a student for any activity conducted on school grounds, during off-campus school activities, or due to a referral by any school official. According to the Office of Civil Rights, all school-related arrests are considered referrals to law enforcement.
Among all girls, Black girls are overrepresented in school-related arrests.
As mentioned previously, Black girls make up 15.2% of female enrollment in schools nationally and are the third highest-represented racial group. However, Black girls are the highest-represented racial group in female school-based arrests, comprising more than twice their percentage of enrollment at 36.0%. Similar to referrals to law enforcement, this means that Black girls are overrepresented among female students who are arrested at school, while white girls are underrepresented. On the state level, Black girls are overrepresented in 72% of states (36 out of 50) by at least 5 percentage points, while white girls are underrepresented in 80% of states (40 out of 50) by the same margin.
Figure 6
Figure 6 shows the difference between the percentage of Black girls’ enrollment in schools and their percentage of female school-related arrests across the United States, sorted from highest to lowest. It highlights Black girls’ degree of representation in school-related arrests compared to their enrollment percentage. If Black girls’ percentage of school-based arrests is higher than their percentage of enrollment, then they are overrepresented in school-related arrests of female students occurring in that state.
Key points:
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Kentucky has the highest disparity, as Black girls make up 10.7% of girls enrolled and 56.3% of girls arrested at school—an overrepresentation of 45.6 percentage points.
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In addition to Kentucky, Black girls were overrepresented by at least 40 percentage points in Alabama (40.8), North Carolina (40.5), and Virginia (40.5).
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In addition to the aforementioned states, Maryland (35.4), Delaware (34.8), Florida (32.1), Wisconsin (28.7), Georgia (28.3), Iowa (28.1), Minnesota (25.5), Louisiana (25.4), Ohio (24.6), South Carolina (24.1), New Jersey (24.0), West Virginia (23.1), Massachusetts (22.5), and Tennessee (21.6) have disparities that exceed the United States average of 20.8 percentage points.
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States like Arkansas (-0.9), Montana (-0.9), Oregon (-1.0), Wyoming (-1.0), South Dakota (-1.4), Utah (-1.4), Hawaii (-1.8), New Mexico (-1.9), Washington (-2.0), Vermont (-2.4), and Alaska (-3.0) show negative disparities, indicating underrepresentation.
Figure 7
Figure 7 shows the percentage of Black girls among all girls who were arrested at school, ordered by states where Black girls make up the highest percentage of school-related arrests to those where they make up the least.
We found that:
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Alabama has the highest percentage, with Black girls making up 73.8% of all female school-related arrests. Maryland follows with 69.7%, and Louisiana with 69.3%.
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In addition to the three aforementioned states, Black girls make up more than half of all girls’ school-related arrests in eight states: Mississippi (67.5%), North Carolina (66%), Delaware (65.4%), Georgia (65.3%), Virginia (63.1%), South Carolina (58.2%), Kentucky (56.3%), and Florida (54.3%).
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The top 10 states where Black girls make up the highest percentage of school-related arrests are all in the Southern region of the United States (AL, MD, LA, MS, NC, DE, GA, VA, SC, KY).
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Several states have significantly lower percentages, with Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming showing 0%, indicating no reported school-related arrests of Black girls.
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Other states with low percentages include Washington (2.4%), South Dakota (1.8%), and Oregon (1.4%).
This data illustrates a wide range of representation, from states with extremely high percentages of Black girls among school-related arrests to those with none, highlighting the disparities in how school-related arrests are distributed across different states.
Black girls are at greater risk of being arrested than white girls in all but 11 states.
Figure 8
Figure 8 shows the Black girls’ risk of being arrested at school compared with white girls by state using risk ratios, sorted in order of highest to lowest relative risk. The risk ratio indicates how much more likely Black girls are to be arrested at school than white girls in each state. A risk ratio of less than one means that Black girls in the state were less likely to be arrested at school than white girls. A risk ratio close to 1 indicates that Black girls and white girls’ risk of school-related arrest was approximately equal.[7] In total, Black girls were at least 1.5 times more likely than white girls to be arrested at school in 39 states. Among these states, Black girls’ relative risk for arrest ranges from 1.75 times to 12.8 times more than white girls.
Specifically, we found that:
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Black girls have the highest relative risk of arrest in Idaho (12.8), meaning Black girls are over 12 times more likely to be arrested than white girls. Massachusetts (12.1), Kentucky (11.3), West Virginia (10.8), and Iowa (10.3) also show significantly high ratios, indicating substantial disparities.
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Seven states, including Wyoming, Vermont, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, Hawaii, and Alaska, have an arrest risk ratio of 0, indicating no school-related arrests of Black girls. Alaska also reported zero school-related arrests for white girls and thus has no risk ratio at all.
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Black girls were less likely than white girls to be arrested at school in Washington (0.4), Oregon (0.6), and Arkansas (0.9).
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In South Dakota (1.1), Black and white girls’ risks of school-related arrest were approximately equal.
Compared to other girls of color, Black girls were:
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More likely to be arrested at school in 24 states.[8]
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At least two times more likely to be arrested at school in 12 states.
Factors that may contribute to Black girls’ disproportionate police contact
As part of our analysis, we wanted to understand the factors that might contribute to the disproportionate representation of Black girls among referrals to law enforcement and school-based arrests. We looked at correlations between the number of Black girls referred to law enforcement and arrested and the presence of (1) sworn law enforcement officers (sometimes called school resource officers or SROs) operating in schools across each state and (2) school support staff (such as counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses)[9] in a given state.[10]
The number of law enforcement officers in schools is correlated with the number of Black girls who are referred to law enforcement and arrested at school.
We found that more Black girls are referred to law enforcement in states with more school resource officers (SROs), with a moderate positive relationship between the two (r = .54). Additionally, there is a strong positive relationship between the number of Black girls arrested and the number of SROs in a state (r = .87). These findings are highly significant, with a p-value of .0001, and aligns with previous research showing associations between the presence of SROs and suspension outcomes for Black girls. Similarly, we found a statistically significant relationship between whether or not schools had high Black student enrollment (at least 80%) and whether or not they had some SRO presence, which is consistent with previous analysis showing that schools with high Black student enrollment are more likely to have police in schools.[11]
The number of school support staff is correlated with the number of Black girls who are referred to law enforcement and arrested at school
We found moderate positive correlations between the number of support staff in school and the number of Black girls who are referred to law enforcement (r = .6) and arrested (r = .6); the greater the number of support staff, the more Black girls are referred to law enforcement or arrested in school.
Correlations do not necessarily indicate a causal relationship; several interrelated factors may explain these correlations.
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Implicit bias stereotyping and misinterpretation of behavior: School staff, including support staff, might hold implicit biases that disproportionately target Black girls. These biases can lead to heightened surveillance, stricter disciplinary actions, and a greater likelihood of involving law enforcement. Additionally, the behavior of Black girls may be misinterpreted through a lens of racial and gender stereotypes, leading to more severe disciplinary responses. Support staff might misinterpret normal adolescent behavior as being more problematic or threatening.
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School climate, policies and practices: The overall school environment and how discipline is managed can influence the rates of law enforcement referrals. A punitive school climate characterized by policies, such as zero-tolerance, that have a disproportionate negative impact on Black students. Support staff, who are often tasked with enforcing these policies, might contribute to higher referral rates to law enforcement due to strict adherence to such policies, prioritizing maintaining order through enforcement rather than support. Relatedly, if support staff work closely with SROs, their presence and involvement may lead to more incidents being reported to law enforcement instead of being handled internally. An example of this collaboration is the use of threat assessment teams, which include counselors, security, police, and professionals from other systems like medical and mental health. These teams “identify, evaluate, and address threats or potential threats to school security,” such as perceived threatening behavior by students (current and former), parents, employees, or others. An increase in these teams can result in more school personnel reporting students as potential threats, especially in predominantly Black schools where previous research has found that police are more likely to perceive students as threats.
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Inadequate resources and training: Support staff in schools with fewer resources might default to involving law enforcement due to a lack of alternatives—especially as police in schools are increasingly viewed and framed as “counselors” who have a role in responding to all kinds of student mental health needs.[12] School police are often sent to respond when a child is seen as being “in crisis” or experiencing a mental health issue; this is especially true for students with disabilities. Moreover, if support staff are not adequately trained in cultural competency, conflict resolution, and trauma-informed practices, they might rely more on punitive measures, including law enforcement referrals, rather than supportive interventions.
Organizing Toward Police-Free Schools: A Case Study
Black students, especially Black girls, have been disproportionately referred to law enforcement and arrested at school. Freedom, Inc., an intergenerational social justice organization of mainly Black and Southeast Asian leaders in Dane County (Madison), Wisconsin, has been organizing to change this through their advocacy to remove police from schools. Since 2003, Freedom, Inc. has combined direct services with leadership development and community organizing around education and youth justice issues.
In 2015, the death of 19-year-old Tony Robinson by a Madison police officer—at a time of heightened visibility and mobilization around police violence—prompted young people at Freedom, Inc. to connect the violence that Black people were experiencing in their communities to what they were experiencing in their schools. Young people, particularly young Black girls and queer young people, often complained about police harassment, specifically in connection with gender-based violence (such as making comments about their bodies), high arrest rates of students, and an overall unsafe environment in Madison schools. They decided to act when the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Board of Education was set to renew its contract with the Madison Police Department.
On April 4, 2017, Freedom Inc. organized a community event to oppose police in schools, citing data showing that 86% of arrests in or near MMSD high schools involved Black students, who only make up 19% of the student population. Despite their efforts, the board renewed the contract, prompting the young people of Freedom, Inc.—the Freedom Youth Squad—to launch the “No Cops In School” campaign.
Campaign Demands
The No Cops In School campaign is about more than just removing police from schools. It is also about investing in the leadership, creativity, and wellness of Black youth and other youth of color. Freedom Youth Squad's demands to the school district were to
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completely remove police from schools and create accountability measures for school personnel who use police to harm children;
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invest in education that promotes leadership, creativity, and wellness for Black youth and other youth of color;
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use transformative justice instead of punishing youth; and
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give students, parents, and trusted community members power to make and implement real decisions about schools.
Strategies and Tactics
Over the course of nearly four years, the Freedom Youth Squad of mostly Black girls and queer young people (with the support of adult Freedom, Inc. staff and allies) used a multi-pronged strategy to get their demands met, including speaking their truths directly to decision-makers, political education and narrative-building, and engaging elected officials.
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Speaking Truth to Power: Youth testified at every MMSD board meeting and encouraged the entire community—parents, elders, and community members—to do the same. In doing so, the No Cops In School Campaign transformed MMSD board meetings into well-attended events where youth shared their experiences and spoke truth to power about why police in schools were not in their best interest.
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Political Education and Narrative-Building: Freedom Inc. conducted teach-ins and door-to-door campaigns to discuss the harms of police in schools and do myth-busting about why Black girls do not need punishment and discipline to be successful or change their behaviors. By challenging people to think more deeply and critically about the causes and consequences of police presence in schools, Freedom, Inc.’s political education and narrative-building work helped change parents and elders from supporters of police in schools to staunch advocates against it on behalf of their children and grandchildren.
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Electoral Strategy: The campaign focused on influencing school board elections, sending more than 1,000 postcards to board members, and organizing candidate forums. By the end of 2019, the school board majority favored ending the police contract.
Victory and Ongoing Challenges
The countless hours of community engagement, public testimony, and powerful protest culminated in a historic victory on June 29, 2020, when the MMSD board voted to terminate its contract with the Madison Police Department. However, Freedom Inc. learned the importance of being “prepared for the win” or having a clear post-victory plan. For example, Freedom, Inc. ultimately developed a comprehensive policy proposal that they felt should be implemented, but it wasn’t ready until more than six months after the victory in June 2020. This gave the district time to hire more security guards and "restorative justice" staff who were not trusted by the students or aligned with their vision. As co-director Bianca Gomez shared, "The win is not equal to liberation... we won, but young people are still getting the police called on them. Young people are still experiencing sexual violence at the hands of the police. Young people are still being suspended and expelled."
Freedom Inc. continues to advocate for their remaining campaign demands for investment, transformative justice, and community control, organizing initiatives like the “Black Sanctuary Pledge” for teachers to protect and support students without involving law enforcement.[13] Freedom Inc.’s No Cops In Schools campaign demonstrates the power of youth-led, community-driven organizing in achieving police-free schools and highlights the importance of sustained efforts and strategic planning for long-term change.
Conclusion
The findings of this report highlight a deeply concerning trend: Black girls are disproportionately subjected to referrals to law enforcement, including (and especially) school-related arrests, across the United States. This disparity is not merely a reflection of isolated incidents but a systemic issue evident in both national and state-level data.
Nationally, Black girls, who constitute 15.2% of female students, account for 32.5% of referrals to law enforcement and 36% of school-related arrests. This overrepresentation is significantly higher than that of their white peers, who are underrepresented in these disciplinary actions. The data reveals that Black girls are three times more likely to be referred to law enforcement or arrested at school compared to white girls.
The state-by-state analysis further underscores the widespread nature of this issue. States such as Maryland, Illinois, and Delaware exhibit some of the highest disparities, with Black girls making a substantial portion of referrals to law enforcement far exceeding their enrollment percentages. In Kentucky, Black girls are overrepresented in school-related arrests by a staggering 45.6 percentage points.
Previous research suggests that several factors might contribute to these disparities, including implicit biases, misinterpretation of behavior, and punitive school policies. The presence of school resource officers (SROs) has a notable impact, with a positive correlation between the presence of SROs and the rates of Black girls’ referrals to law enforcement and arrests. Despite the increased popularity of police in schools since the late 1990s, research shows that the presence of armed police does not prevent school shootings or decrease the number of deaths that occur because of them. Instead, the presence of armed police contributes to a school environment in which Black girls are neither mentally nor physically safe to learn. Additionally, the role of school support staff, though intended to aid students, can sometimes exacerbate the issue due to inadequate training in cultural competency and trauma-informed practices.
The case study of Freedom Inc.’s No Cops In Schools campaign illustrates the power of youth-led initiatives in addressing and mitigating these disparities. The campaign’s success in Madison, Wisconsin, can serve as a model for other communities striving to achieve police-free schools and emphasizes the importance of sustained advocacy and strategic planning.
In conclusion, this report calls for urgent action to address the systemic inequities that lead to the disproportionate criminalization of Black girls in schools. It underscores the need for comprehensive policy changes, enhanced training for school staff, and a shift toward supportive, rather than punitive, disciplinary practices. By addressing these issues, we can work towards creating a more equitable and just educational environment for all students.
Notes
[1] When we use the term Black girls, we intend this to be inclusive of Black trans girls, nonbinary or gender-nonconforming persons, and femmes. However, the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection, which was analyzed to create this brief, has historically used binary male/female categories to capture sex rather than gender identity. (The 2020-21 dataset has introduced a “nonbinary” gender category for schools that already disaggregate that, but it is not a requirement.) This means that we do not have the data to adequately speak to the school discipline experiences of Black trans girls, non-conforming persons, and femmes using the CRDC. The most recent iteration of GLSEN’s groundbreaking National School Climate Survey on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth in schools, however, reported higher incidences of school discipline in general for trans girls and nonbinary students than for cisgender girls and students. Coupling this with what we know about racial disparities in discipline, it is imperative to make data available that allows a specific focus on and inclusion of the school discipline experiences of trans and queer youth, especially trans and queer Black girls/persons.
[2] [For measures such as enrollment and disciplinary action, the CRDC gathers data that is disaggregated by students’ race or ethnicity, sex, English proficiency, and disability status. This allows analysis that uncovers inequities and disparities in education that impact groups that are already marginalized by various systems—in particular, Black students, students of color, students with disability, and LGBTQIA students.
[3] By this definition, every school-related arrest is also a referral to law enforcement, according to the CRDC. However, attempts to separate arrests from other referrals prove difficult, likely due to inconsistencies in school reporting. Thus, referral to law enforcement counts used in this brief still include arrests. Master List of CRDC Definitions, Illinois State Board of Education, (n.d.), https://www.isbe.net/Documents/RC-Civil-Rights-Data-Collection-Terms.pdf.
[4] See the Census Bureau’s classification for the Southern region of the U.S. Census Regions and Divisions of the United States, census.gov.
[5] While a risk ratio (RR) of exactly 1 indicates equal risk, in practice, it’s rare to have an RR of exactly 1 due to sample variability and measurement error. We looked at the confidence interval (CI) for each risk ratio to determine whether the difference in risk between groups was statistically significant, as the range of the confidence interval provides a better understanding of the potential variability and significance of the observed risk ratio. If the 95% CI of the risk ratio included 1, we interpreted it as no significant difference in risk between the groups.
[6] In the other 25 states, this was true for all but one group–usually American Indian/Alaskan Native or Pacific Island/Native Hawaiian girls.
[7] While a risk ratio (RR) of exactly 1 indicates equal risk, in practice, it’s rare to have an RR of exactly 1 due to sample variability and measurement error. We looked at the confidence interval (CI) for each risk ratio to determine whether the difference in risk between groups was statistically significant, as the range of the confidence interval provides a better understanding of the potential variability and significance of the observed risk ratio. If the 95% CI of the risk ratio included 1, we interpreted it as no significant difference in risk between the groups.
[8] In another 10 states, this was true for all but one group—most often American Indian/Alaskan Native or Pacific Island/Hawaiian girls.
[9] The Office of Civil Rights school personnel data is measured as the full-time equivalent (FTE), which is determined by the amount of time the staff (in this case, the SROs and support staff) are required to function in the schools. An FTE of 1.00 (100%) equals 40 hours per week, 0.50 equals 20 hours per week, and 0.10 equals four hours per week. One unit equals 24 minutes (0/01 * 40 hours/60 minutes).
[10] In statistics, bivariate correlations are used to measure the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables. It is often represented by the letter r and can take values between -1 and +1. A positive value of r indicates that there is a relationship between the two variables, while a negative value indicates that there is not a relationship. While they are useful for identifying simple relationships, there are several limitations to be aware of, including but not limited to confounding variables, sensitivity to measurement error, and the influence of outliers. Additional statistical methods should be used and the broader context of the data considered to draw more accurate conclusions.
[11] We conducted a chi-square test with the following results: X2 = 52.57, p-value < .01.
[12] See National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO). “To Protect & Educate: The School Resource Officer and the Prevention of Violence in Schools.” NASRO, 2012; Rebecca Jackson, et al., “Examining the Role of School Resource Officers on School Safety and Crisis Response Teams,” Journal of School Health 88, no. 4 (2018): 267-274, https:doi.org/10.1111/josh.12609; American Psychological Association (APA), “The Evolving Role of School Resource Officers,” Monitor on Psychology, October 2016. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/10/school-police; and School-Based Law Enforcement Journal, “Expanding the Role of School Resource Officers to Address Student Mental Health Needs,” School-Based Law Enforcement Journal 30, no. 2 (2020): 45-58.
[13] Freedom, Inc.’s pledge is similar to what the Black Organizing Project developed in Oakland. See https://blackorganizingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Black-Sanctuary-Pledge-Final-2.pdf.