The ACLU and the Disability Law Project of Vermont Legal Aid want the Vermont Agency of Education to stop letting school districts fund school police with Medicaid reimbursements.

The ACLU and DLP say the AOE has allowed at least two Vermont school systems – Maple Run Unified School District in St. Albans and North Country Supervisory Union – to use Medicaid funds to pay for school cops, an apparent violation of state law. 

A letter to Secretary Dan French of the Agency of Education claims “there is no link between the presence of police in schools and programs designed to support students with disabilities or student achievement in accordance with education standards. Moreover, there is no conclusive evidence that police in schools increase student safety. On the contrary, studies show that police in schools make students feel less safe and more anxious, have a negative impact on educational achievement, and are associated with high rates of exclusionary discipline and in-school arrest.”

Proposed legislation to ban state funding of school resource officers has apparently failed for the 2021 session.