Children in Pasco County Florida are being labeled "criminals" based on
test grades and personal history.
[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change logo[ [link removed] ][IMG]
Tell Superintendent Kurt Browning: Erase the database. Stop sharing our
kids' data with the police.
[ [link removed] ]sign the petition
Dear John,
Imagine being labeled a criminal because you’ve survived abuse or received
a “D” in school.
Several middle and high schools in Pasco County Florida are working with
the Pasco Sheriff’s office to do just that. They’ve created a list of
schoolchildren they believe might “fall into a life of crime” based on
highly sensitive private information, including family history, records of
past abuse, and grades.^1
What’s worse, Black students and those with disabilities are 2x more
likely to be targeted and placed on this list.^2
John, no child should be labeled a “criminal” — this dangerous,
racist practice must end. That’s why we’re calling on the Pasco School
Board and Superintendent Kurt Browning to intervene NOW.
[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition. Tell Superintendent Kurt Browning and the Pasco
School Board: Stop criminalizing schoolchildren. Get rid of this database,
and end the practice of sharing private information with police.
On several occasions, Superintendent Browning has gone on record touting
his positive relationship with the Pasco County Sheriff’s office and the
need for police presence in schools. But when it comes to defending
children against harassment and targeting by the police, Browning has
remained silent, claiming that he is unaware of the Sheriff's Office's use
of school data to identify kids who “might become criminals.”^3
Members of the Pasco school board have also denied responsibility for
these dangerous data-sharing practices that label schoolchildren as young
as 11 years old as “criminals,” forcing them into the criminal justice
system.
John, labeling schoolchildren who need care and support
“criminals” is shocking. But the fact is, the police already run rampant
in Pasco County schools -- and Black kids are the first to be targeted.
Here are our demands:
1. Release demographic data for the student populations represented on
this list with a comparison to the county-wide demographic data.
Specifically, we demand to know the percentage of Black students, Latinx
students, and disabled students represented on this list.
2. The Sheriff's office must notify all families whose child has already
been added to the list.
3. Shift budget priorities to support teachers and staff. Trained
professionals who are overworked, underpaid, and under-resourced can
provide academic and mental health interventions should have the needed
resources to help kids instead of relying on untrained sheriff's deputies.
[ [link removed] ]Add your name: Demand Pasco’s school board and superintendent erase the
database and stop feeding private information to the police.
Until justice is real,
--Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Erika, Malachi, Megan, Ernie, Madison, Ariel,
Trevor, Ericka, Ana, McKayla, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
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References:
1. Pasco’s sheriff uses grades and abuse histories to label
schoolchildren potential criminals. The kids and their parents don’t
know.Tampa Bay Times.
"[link removed]
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
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[ [link removed] ]ColorOfChange is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change.
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