LOUISVILLE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
louisville@blacklivesmatter.com

Official Statement of Black Lives Matter Louisville & Stand Up Sunday
Jeffersontown High School Police Brutality Incident

On Wednesday, November 1, 2017, Jeersontown police ocers were called to

Jeersontown High School after an alleged ght between two students in the cafeteria.
The School Resource Ocer (SRO) called for back-up in which 3 ocers entered
Jeersontown High School.

This traumatic incident was captured on cell phone video and shows the ocers not
only restraining and kicking the student but also one ocer was captured pointing his
taser at students in the hallway. Students were shown screaming and visibly upset.
The incident was picked up by activist and journalist, Shaun King and has been shared
across all social media platforms, elevating the emotional trauma and stress felt by the
students. Many parents and students have expressed anger, outrage and sadness.
This is coupled with both parents and students feeling a lack of safety and concern for
their well-being of the student body; which was documented this past summer.

The letter sent home by Principal Matt Kingsley did not address the concerns of the
parents and students but was written in a way to deect from any responsibility and
culpability of Jeersontown High School. According to a recent USA Today article,
Kingsley has received the lowest leadership score from his teachers at 38%, although
less than two-thirds of this certied sta answered the survey. In addition, his school
received low mark from both students and sta on questions related to bullying
problem in the school . Less than 60 percent of students felt like they belonged at their
school. While Kingsley may have red o a quick letter to deect his culpability it is
clear from this information that as a principal he lacks the leadership for Jeersontown
to be a safe school where all students can thrive.

JCPS states the following area of values and focus; per the JCPS website:
VALUES (Deeply held driving forces for action and conduct)
Our students are cared for and treated as if they are our own.

FOCUS AREAS (Where we are putting our attention)

Focus area 1: Increased Learning
Focus area 2: Graduation and Beyond
Focus area 3: Stakeholder involvement and engagement
Focus area 4: Safe, resourced, supported, and equipped schools

We believe that Jeersontown High School has failed to uphold the values of focus of
JCPS and is also furthering the deterioration of the relationship between students and
their education with the antagonizing letter being sent home and general disregard for
the well being of their students that were traumatized by the event.

In addition, we feel, as stated in the Journal of Criminal Justice, as school resource

ocer (SRO) programs continue to be widely implemented, there is concern that an
increasing police presence at schools will criminalize student behavior by moving
problematic students to the juvenile justice system rather than disciplining them at
school. Moreover, several criminologists and legal scholars have expressed concerns
that some strategies designed to make schools safer particularly the growing number
of school resource ocers (SROs) might actually criminalize student behavior and
lead to a substantial increase in the number of school-based arrests. SROs are sworn
law enforcement ocers assigned full-time to patrol schools. As they become more
common on school campuses, it is argued, discipline problems traditionally handled by
school principals and teachers now are more likely to be handled by a school police
ocer (Hirscheld, 2008). Thus, as a scue between students becomes assault or
disrupting class becomes disorderly conduct, it is expected that the number of youths
referred from public schools for delinquent and criminal prosecution will climb,
especially for behaviors that pose no legitimate threat to school safety.

We are requesting the following from Jeerson County Public School District at-large:

-Provide racial and trauma counseling for all students aected by this incident
-Allow students to have excused absences up to 3 days due to the emotional trauma
from this incident
-Allow students time to process this incident without receiving referrals and remove all
discipline given to students due to their natural reactions
-A town hall from Principal Matt Kinglsey to address the incident with concerned
parents, students, community leaders and members
-The elimination of School Resource Ocers from Jeerson County Public Schools
-Increase of counselors trained and experienced in generational trauma
-Provide training for restorative and transformative practices for all teachers and sta

For almost 7 years, I was trained in safe crisis management and in risking connections
(a more extreme version of restorative practices) the restorative model. While others
around me seemed to struggle with utilizing the many non physical skills in our
repertoire, I focused on the most important parts of training: paying attention, listening,
and utilizing relationship building and empathetic language to de-escalate some of the
most dangerous situations with children you couldnt imagine at a facility. I say all of
that to say this: From how incidents need to be documented all the way through a
restraint and verbal and non verbal de-escalation skills: JCPS isn't even on page one.
Haven't even opened the book. Constant training in nonverbal and verbal de-escalation
skills before, during, and after an incident are the most important because it makes it
impossible to not develop a trusting relationship with the most hard to reach
individuals. -Black Lives Matter Louisville Core Organizer

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