Wu Remains Opposed To Police In Public Schools

BOSTON, MA —A day after a Boston Public Schools principal was knocked unconscious in a confrontation with a student, the city's Mayor-elect Michelle Wu said she still is against police officers in public schools, according to the Boston Herald.

Wu, speaking to the media Thursday at City Hall, called the incident at Dr. William K. Henderson K-12 Inclusion School's Upper Campus in Dorchester "an incredibly horrific, tragic situation."

But Wu continues to support the school safety measures she laid out during the campaign, when she called for "ending the criminalization of students."

"All throughout the system we need - particularly in this moment coming out of the pandemic when there's been such stress, anxiety, trauma on our families - to be putting more resources into social and emotional supports, into the wraparound services that our schools should be providing," Wu said Thursday.

Reporters asked Wu if this meant there should be police in Boston Public Schools.

"No," Wu said.

According to police, a 16-year-old female high school student was arrested and charged with assault and battery in Wednesday's alleged beating of Henderson Upper Campus Principal Tricia Lampron, which took place as classes were being dismissed. The principal was rushed to the hospital, and was home recuperating the following day.

The female student repeatedly punched Lampron in the head, pulled her hair and left her unconscious on the ground, the Herald reported.

A school safety officer, from the organization that provides security in BPS schools, restrained the student, who was later arrested by a Boston Police officer who had been on crosswalk duty outside the school.

In her Thursday news conference, Wu said she had reached out to all parties involved.

"It points to the need for us to really be investing in our young people, in our school systems, in the supports that are necessary," Wu said.

During the campaign, Wu's position on school safety was laid out in her education plan, A Community Vision for Boston's Students and Families.

"Metal detectors have been found to negatively impact students' sense of safety at school, while school resource officers (SROs) disproportionately criminalize Black and Latinx students, perpetuating the school-to-prison pipeline." Wu wrote.

"We must immediately move to dismantle these punitive measures and reinvest in restorative justice practices employed by trusted, adult school community members."