Philly school police officers say they need better pay and training — and new uniforms — to keep kids safe

The 350 officers charged with keeping Philadelphia School District students safe say they need better pay — and more respect from the school system.

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, the district’s largest union, just reached a tentative agreement with the district, a week ahead of its Aug. 31 deadline. Terms have not yet been disclosed.

But two other key district unions — the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators Local 502, which represents principals, and the School Police Association of Philadelphia, which represents safety officers, have the same contract deadline.

» READ MORE: It’s the first day of school for 117,000 Philly kids, and the PFT has a tentative contract

Bernadette Ambrose-Smith, the president of the safety officers’ union, said no bargaining sessions are on the horizon, because the district has not scheduled any.

“We are nowhere close to an agreement,” Ambrose-Smith said. She is hopeful that the PFT contract means things will loosen for her negotiations, she said, but as of Tuesday still had heard nothing.

“Our members love their work and they love our children, but they need the school district to take them seriously,” she said.

For many years, the workers once called “school police officers” often made careers of the school force. (Philadelphia district officers do not carry guns.) Others were former city police officers who came to the school force after retiring.

But much has changed. Kevin Bethel, now the city’s police commissioner, reshaped the force during his time as chief safety officer, changing union members’ title to “school safety officer,” changing their uniforms, and refocusing their work on mentoring and proactive support, rather than emphasizing discipline and arrests.

That rankled many in the union.

“The title changed, and our responsibilities became greater,” Ambrose-Smith said. There was no salary increase.

Pay is just too low, she said. Starting officers make $34,526 annually, and their salary tops out at $50,256. (Most officers work 10 months per year; the few who have 12-month positions are paid up to $60,313.)

“Some of them have to work two and three jobs just to be able to support their families,” Ambrose-Smith said.

Whereas the force was traditionally a mix of veterans and newer officers, longevity is mostly a thing of the past now. The median length of service among the current force is three years; the mean is six.

The paycheck doesn’t match the work, Ambrose-Smith said, and people aren’t staying.

“We want it to be a career. I want everybody that’s coming in the door to have a chance of being there for 25 years like me, to stay in the district,” she said.

Incentivizing officers to stay on the force long-term is a goal of the contract, she said.

Equipment is also a key ask: Only patrol officers receive bulletproof vests now; the union wants them for every officer.

“A lot of times, we are in a situation which causes our lives to be in danger,” Ambrose-Smith said. “When I welcomed the officers back, I said, ‘I want you to be able to go home.’ We are the first ones on the scene.”

The union is also negotiating for different uniforms.

Bethel moved the force to blue polos to make them seem more accessible and less like traditional officers, but Sharif Muhammad, treasurer of the union and a safety officer at Prince Hall Elementary, said the force needs “more professional-looking uniforms” that clearly identify their role.

“A child should not look at me and say, ‘Wait, he works back there in the kitchen.’ That child should say, ‘Hey, that’s Officer Muhammad, he helped me, I respect him.’ There should be a clear distinction,” Muhammad said.

Training is also an issue, Muhammad and Ambrose-Smith said.

While the district is meeting state requirements for officer safety training, the training is less than in prior years, union officials said, and the realities of the job mean that many are underprepared.

“We are looking to get the newer officers involved in more de-escalation type training, more hands-on dealing with the mental status of the children,” Muhammad said. “We’re also looking to have our officers trained a lot more physically, on defensive tactics, how to protect staff and themselves a little better.”

Another outstanding issue is the use of the OpenGate weapons detection system.

Unlike metal detectors, the machines do not require students to take off backpacks or be subject to a search. Instead, students walk between two parallel poles, and an alert goes off if a weapon is spotted.

Last year, two staffers were stabbed at Castor Gardens Middle School in the Northeast after a student brought a knife into the building. The school, like other middle schools in the district, has an OpenGate weapons detection system, but while it uses artificial intelligence to identify some weapons, it does not pick up knives.

Principals can direct any staffer in the building to run the OpenGate scan — bus attendants have run the scan, as have school secretaries. Police union leaders believe it is their members’ job and have asked to bargain that issue, a request that has so far been ignored.

“It’s a real safety issue,” Ambrose-Smith said.

Muhammad and Ambrose-Smith said they have a strong working relationship with Craig Johnson, the district’s deputy chief of school safety, who worked as a school officer himself. But they say they need better protections.

“This union doesn’t believe that we should just trust the process with the district‚” said Jordan Konell, the union’s lawyer. “We still need the people who are responsible for the safety of students and staff to be properly trained and properly compensated.”

District officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.