Jenkins, a recent hire in the College of Education, comes to Penn State from the University of Arizona College of Education where he was an assistant professor of education policy studies and practice and an affiliate in the Department of Geography. His research focuses on the influence of spatial, social and political factors that foster and exacerbate inequalities for Black populations as well as the approaches that school leaders take to disrupt and transform these dynamics. Consistent throughout his research are potential practical solutions for school leaders and policymakers.
Jenkins’ three-year Spencer Foundation project will explore changes in policy, perceptions of safety and anti-Blackness alongside the termination of contracts with police by school districts. He will be conducting his research in three districts across the U.S.: Oakland Unified School District in California, which he said has been calling for removal of police for a long time; Minneapolis Public Schools, which is significant because Minneapolis is where Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was killed by then-police officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been convicted of the crime; and Denver Public Schools, where “they have some really interesting and amazing things that are happening around school police,” said Jenkins.
In his research, Jenkins will be analyzing discourse around removal of School Resource Officers (SROs) from school districts. SROs are uniformed police officers who have been trained, hired and paid by local police departments but placed to work in schools, and are hired by many urban school districts. The responsibilities of SROs are similar to those of regular police officers in that they have the ability to make arrests, respond to calls for service and document incidents.
While the actual grant project began this fall, Jenkins said he conducted preliminary research by monitoring public school board meetings and analyzing the rhetoric and logic that stakeholders are using to support or oppose removal of police from school campuses. In this preliminary research, Jenkins found that in schools where police are present certain populations are more vulnerable to surveillance, control, discipline and punishment than others. Issues of race inform how similar student behaviors are labeled and penalized differently, he added. Jenkins cited books by social justice scholars Victor Rios, Kathleen Nolan and Monique Morris that document how Black and Latinx students are more frequently criminalized and more harshly punished in schools.
“There is no shortage of videos circulating the internet that show Black kids being thrown by law enforcement officers against school lockers, or onto classroom floors, prior to being arrested and taken into police custody,” said Jenkins. In his article published in February 2021 in the Journal of School Leadership, Jenkins mentions a few examples, including an SRO body-slamming a 14-year old Black girl in Covington, Georgia; a 15-year old Black girl being punched and having her hair pulled by a school security officer in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania; and a 16-year old girl being thrown out of her desk and across the classroom in a high school in Spring Valley, South Carolina.
In developing alternatives to school police, Jenkins said, one area for school districts to potentially focus on is hiring professionals who are trained in youth development rather than aligning with traditional police culture as is common for SROs.
“In March 2021, the U.S. Department of Education prepared a compendium of school discipline regulations which shows that there are currently no national standards outlining the training requirements for SROs and many states, including Pennsylvania, have not established specific training/certification requirements for these specialized officers,” he said. “This suggests that a more systematic approach to training SROs is needed. “
As alternatives to SROs, Jenkins said, some districts have turned to hiring more school counselors and social workers that are trained to deal with mental health challenges. Various supports such as restorative justice — a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior — and community building are also being discussed as ways to help students feel safe and secure.
“The ground in this area is so ripe for creative and innovative thinking and I think the Spencer project will allow us an opportunity to think differently about how policymakers, school board members and school leaders approach ensuring that schools feel safe and behavior is managed appropriately in schools,” said Jenkins.
Jenkins said he is currently working with two undergraduate students and one graduate student on the Spencer project and will be looking for more students to engage with over the next few years.