Giving Compass' Take:

• New York City officials are reducing school officers' presence in schools and providing conflict deescalation training.

• Students think that this is a step in the right direction to address over-policing in schools. How can this policy at the school level help shape policy at the state level or encourage more discussion around over-policing and harsh discipline in America?

• Read about how school safety depends on emotional health.

New York city officials marked a move away from zero-tolerance school discipline policies on Thursday when it was announced that the city and the New York City Police Department had agreed to curb the presence and role of police officers in schools. For students who’ll be most affected, the changes, they say, are both welcome ― and long overdue.

The new agreement discourages police officials from sending students into the criminal justice system for low-level offenses such as marijuana possession and disorderly conduct. The change also applies to school officials, who are to avoid involving the police for minor infractions by students.

It’s the first major revision of the understanding between schools and police since Mayor Rudy Giuliani was in office.

Mendy Mendez, a junior at Vanguard High School, said he’s glad the city has decided to “prioritize caring for the educational and mental well being of students” over policing behavior.

To reduce such skirmishes, the new agreement also includes requirements for expanded training in de-escalation and conflict resolution for school safety agents and traditional patrol officers.

Not all students have a negative view of school safety agents. Shaena Gibson, a sophomore at Abraham Lincoln High School, said that while there were several officers who patrolled each floor of her school, she saw them as mostly “blending into the background” Her interactions with the agents, she said, have been generally positive. She knows other students in the school who have closer bonds with the officers, sharing inside jokes.

Those relationships are why she thinks it’s a victory the city is adopting new regulations. If police officers are going to be part of student’s lives, Gibson said, they should be “dedicated to treating everyone fairly.”

Read the full article about curbing police prescence at New York City schools by Zipporah Osei at Chalkbeat.