School leaders pointed to several positive outcomes of the agreement forged between Oak Park’s schools and police last year.

At the school board meeting on Oct. 26, Principal Lynda Parker and Director of Campus Safety Cindy Guerra provided a community update on the threefold intergovernmental agreement, or IGA, between School District 97, School District 200 and the Oak Park Police Department. These agencies now communicate regularly, including weekly meetings for their safety teams and monthly meetings for their leaders, according to the presentation. “We’re always troubleshooting and talking about what we can do to prevent things from happening or what we can do once we’ve heard of something,” Guerra said.

The agencies are exploring ways they can continue to collaborate on emergency preparedness, community engagement and other areas, the presentation noted.

“We have to work together to make sure we’re doing what’s best for our school populations,” Parker told the board.

The IGA exists for the purpose of managing the issue of law enforcement in the schools. It establishes rules for how agencies share information and handle criminal activity, and takes into account the need to comply with state laws that require a law enforcement officer to be part of the school’s threat assessment team. It also aims to be sensitive to the racial equity issues around policing. 

In 2020, the school board voted to no longer have a police officer (called a school resource officer) on campus. But that also “rendered moot” the agreements in place between the police and local schools, according to Superintendent Greg Johnson.

To create a new agreement, school and village officials began meeting in the summer of 2022. The village and both boards of education approved a new IGA in November 2022.

According to the overview on the board agenda, the agreement exists “to find a balance between the needs to ensure the safety and security of our school districts and  community, and to ensure we have an equitable, welcoming environment for all students.”

Parker said, “We wanted to make sure that not only were we looking at students in our school and their safety as individuals but we were actually being intentional about anchoring that in racial justice as well.” 

 It was also made clear that, “This IGA does not in any way promote law enforcement presence in District 97 schools and District 200, but rather ensures that appropriate procedures are in place for those circumstances in which cooperation between the agencies becomes necessary,” according to a slide used in the meeting.

Guerra explained reasons that police would be in schools: an incident that raises a safety concern such as a violent threat or a weapon on site, safety drills and planning, or educational or violence-prevention programs. 

Board members asked questions about what happens when police are called. Guerra pointed out that police come directly to her office and are not walking the halls unless they are accompanying the fire department, which they do in case of medical emergencies. Guerra said police had been called to OPRF five times this year so far, and one of those situations was a medical emergency.