An empty high school classroom. (Dan Forer | Getty Images)

Over a year since Milwaukee Public Schools first missed a deadline to place 25 school resource officers (SROs) in schools, a judge has ordered the district to do so by Feb. 17. If the school district doesn’t comply, the district will need to appear in court to explain why it hasn’t adhered to the law. 

The order comes as the result of a lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on behalf of a mother whose child attends a Milwaukee school. The complaint filed in October stated the district’s noncompliance presented a “substantial risk to her and her child’s safety.”

WILL Associate Counsel Lauren Greuel called the order a “massive triumph for parents and kids who want to go to school in a safe environment.” 

“Without this ruling, MPS would have simply continued to ignore the law and parents like our client would have been left with no options,” Greuel said in a statement. 

Officers haven’t been stationed inside MPS schools since 2016, and in 2020, after years of student activism, the district also ended its contract with the Milwaukee Police Department.

The law in question — 2023 Wisconsin Act 12 — provided a boost in funding to local governments and allowed the city of Milwaukee to implement an additional sales tax to help ease financial strains. However, it also included a controversial requirement that the school district place 25 SROs in schools by Jan. 1, 2024, but the school district missed that deadline. 

Lawmakers and the Department of Public Instruction had previously told the school district that it needed to come into compliance with the law. 

Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown) called the ruling “great news.” 

“The law couldn’t be more clear. MPS needs to put School Resource Officers back into the schools,” Jagler wrote in a post on social media. “It’s bonkers that it took a lawsuit to get MPS to follow the law.”

In addition to the February deadline, the judge also instructed WILL to amend its initial complaint and add the City of Milwaukee to the case. 

MPS said in a statement that it “remains ready to implement a School Resource Officer (SRO) program as soon as officers are made available by the City of Milwaukee,” and that the judge’s decision to order the City of Milwaukee to “participate in the implementation of the SRO program at MPS is a recognition that the City plays an integral role in implementation of the SRO program.”

“MPS remains committed to working collaboratively with the City to build a sustainable SRO program,” the district said. 

The district and the city have been negotiating about the issue for months.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson previously told WISN 12 that the city was working with the district on the issue, but appeared opposed to having the city cover the majority of the funds. 

“Usually when you go to a restaurant and you order a meal, the chef doesn’t prepare your meal and then pay the bill. That’s essentially what we’re being asked to do, the taxpayers of the city of Milwaukee,” Johnson said. “We’ll continue to work with MPS leadership to get it sorted out.”

A DPI fiscal estimate, submitted to lawmakers while Act 12 was a bill, found that 25 SROs would likely cost $2 million. “The cost to MPS would depend on what is agreed upon by the City of Milwaukee and MPS, but if we assume an equal share between the two entities, the additional cost to MPS could be at least $1.02 million annually,” the estimate stated. 

Charlene Abughrin, the parent whom WILL represents, said in a statement she was “grateful” WILL brought the lawsuit.

“I will sleep better knowing that my child, and others, will be protected once MPS begins to comply with the law,” Abughrin said.