A Call to Action from AFSC St. Louis

By Jonathan Pulphus

Jun 11, 2020

These are the best and worst of times. We stand in solidarity with the Minneapolis freedom fighters on the ground, those furthering efforts here in St. Louis around justice, and the soldiers for liberation across the world resisting for a better today and tomorrow.

This is an update on AFSC and Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR) St. Louis with opportunities to connect. We welcome you to peruse through our efforts and join in on upcoming ones. As always, we hope that our journey helps young people gain a sense of their own power to create change for themselves, family, neighborhood, community, city, state, country, and world. Here are three quick (no more than 5-10 minutes) ways you can help today:

1. Sign the Petition

2. Give SLPS Budget Feedback

3. Call/Email SLPS and tell them to invest in #RealStudentSafety.

SIGN THE PETITION

We are calling our supporters to demand SLPS defund its ties with Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department and invest in #RealStudentSafety. We are joining our comrades in Minneapolis and in cities across the country in calling for the defunding of ties to local police department and removal of school resource officers from schools. Please sign and share our Change.org petition in support.

Here is the link: https://www.change.org/p/adam-layne-tell-slps-kelvin-adams-to-defund-their-ties-with-slmpd-invest-in-real-student-safety

#GIVE SLPS BUDGET FEEDBACK

SLPS is accepting budget feedback until Monday, June 15, 2020. AFSC St. Louis is pushing our supporters to tell Saint Louis Public Schools Board of Education and Superintendent Kelvin Adams to give feedback to the FY2020-FY2021 budget using their form to further lift up our cause of severing its ties with St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and Student Resource Officers.

Here is the link.

For question #3, we are asking that our supporters copy and paste the following:

Dr. Adams,

Budgets are moral documents. Spending $6.3 million on security that does not make kids safer is unacceptable. We demand you commit to:

1. Immediately cease any contracts SLPS has with SLMPD

2. Bar any future contracts with SLMPD;

3. Transform the Office of Safety and Security to an Office of School Climate/Restorative Practice and Equity and restructure the role of security personnel to become mentors and Restorative Peace/Culture Keepers;

4. Investment in wrap around services and enrichment programming such as Therapists, Social Workers, and Counselors K-12

5. Risk-Reduction plans for high risk youth K-12

6. Resources around housing, job readiness, and mental health

7. Restorative Justice, Anti-Racism, and Trauma Informed Programming K-12

8. Fully funded arts programs

9. Institutionalization of black studies K-12

10. Accountability and the development of a response mechanism to support families and youth that experience police brutality.

JAM SLPS REPRESENTATIVES' PHONES & EMAIL

Call/email SLPS and the Board of Education and demand "SLPS defund ties with SLMPD and invest in #RealStudentSafety. Here's a Sample Script for SLPS that you can use when reaching out.

SLPS / 314-231-3720 / supt@slps.org

Board President - Dorothy Rohde-Collins / Dorothy.Rohde-Collins@slps.org

Vice President - Natalie Vowell / Natalie.Vowell@slps.org

Secretary - Dr. Joyce M. Roberts / Joyce.Roberts@slps.org

Donna Jones / Donna.Jones@slps.org

Susan R. Jones / Susan.Jones@slps.org

Adam Layne / Adam.Layne@slps.org

Tracee Miller / Tracee.Miller@slps.org

SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER

We are seeking to mobilize your support in anticipation of a direct action aimed at holding Saint Louis Public Schools accountable to our demands. Please complete the following form if you would like to support us when that day comes:

Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRkQBtkTyhBV2Pu9by4ocYHB8p-Hm03yqAVmLZgx5pu04rIw/viewform