How Police in School Impacts Students with Disabilities

Friday, May 09, 2025

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the amount of police in schools. These officers are called school resource officers (SROs). This blog will talk about the overarching reasons behind this increase in police presence, the state of mental health treatment for youth (especially those with disabilities) and other related topics.

The State of Youth Mental Health

To discuss this issue at length, we must first discuss the current state of young people's mental wellbeing. It is no secret that kids today face different challenges than many previous generations. One example of the unique circumstances faced by today’s youth is the ever-evolving impact of technology on all our lives. With the rise of technology, namely computers and smartphones, children have increased access to content and information. Thus, they can view inappropriate or violent content more easily. Additionally, technological advances have given rise to the advent of cyberbullying; the perceived anonymity and greater reach of which are still being extensively studied but are thought by researchers to be positively correlated to a number of mental health issues, in ways that both mirror and present challenges distinct from those of in-person bullying.[1]

Furthermore, according to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, nearly one in four children will experience a traumatic event by the age of 16. Although a student’s trauma may or may not be related to their school environment, schools should nonetheless be safe places; not feeling safe at school has been found to further negatively affect the mental health of students overall.[2] Although some aspects of school life can be detrimental to student mental health, school-based mental health services that holistically address the needs and challenges of students as they experience them can be a vital and positive component of accessible care for marginalized youth.[3] And, if that is the case, it begs the question: how is the mental health of students with disabilities, who are already at risk for more adverse outcomes, being addressed and affected by their school environments?

School Culture & Staffing Concerns in Schools

The American Civil Liberties Association (ACLU) 's 2019 report "Cops and No Counselors" highlights troubling findings about students' support networks in schools nationwide.[4]

• 1.7 million students are in schools with police but no counselors 
• 3 million students are in schools with police but no nurses 
• 6 million students are in schools with police but no school psychologists 
• 10 million students are in schools with police but no social workers 
• 14 million students are in schools with police but no counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker

The nationwide trends generally match Florida's data as well.

• In Florida, the student-to-counselor ratio for the 2022-2023 school year was 423 students to one counselor.[5] This is vastly different from the American School Counselor Association's recommended staffing standards, of 250 students to one counselor. This makes the Florida student-to-counselor staffing ratio approximately 1.7 times the recommended amount.
• In Florida the student to nurse ration was 2,414 students to one nurse in 2023. The National Association of School Nurses and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 750 students for every nurse. Florida's staffing ratio is more than three times the recommended amount.
• Lastly, data from the Florida School Justice in Schools Project at the University of North Florida (UNF) found that in 2020-2021, the student-to-school social worker ratio was 1,772 students for ever social worker. The recommended ratio is one social worker for every 250 students. The Florida staffing ratio is more than seven times the recommended amount.

From a disability rights perspective, these statistics paint a concerning picture. Underserving students’ physical and emotional health can be problematic under any circumstance, but for students with disabilities or who are otherwise marginalized, it is critical that these needs are not only addressed, but that they are addressed in a way that considers the school and societal environments the way the students in question experience it.[6]

Although society oftentimes equates disability and mental health needs with violent tendencies, available research demonstrates that those with disabilities are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence.[7] As a result, it is critical to understand the ways that our state's shortage of qualified mental health professionals impacts this equation. It is likewise critical to evaluate the ways that Florida's school districts are responding to students' mental health needs, accordingly, including through the increased presence of law enforcement in schools and its impact on students.

What impact do police have on students, especially those with disabilities?

The National Association of Student Resource Officers (NASRO), which is a national training organization for SROs, defines an SRO as “a carefully selected, specifically trained, and properly equipped law enforcement officer with sworn authority, trained in school-based law enforcement and crisis response and assigned by an employing law enforcement agency to work collaboratively with one or more schools using community-oriented policing concepts.”[8] Frameworks vary. In Florida, state law requires a “safe school officer” at every public school and authorizes four types: school resource officers (SROs), school safety officers, security guards, and school guardians. SROs are sworn law enforcement coordinated through school principals. Safety officers and guards report through their agencies. Guardians, established after the Stoneman Douglas tragedy, are trained school staff who volunteer to carry firearms on campus.

While the goal of placing police in schools is to improve safety, Florida’s framework assigns that responsibility to multiple roles with vastly different training and oversight. This inconsistency can affect how safety is delivered—and for students with disabilities, the stakes are even higher. Nationwide data shows that students with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to face suspension, expulsion, or arrest in schools with a law enforcement presence. That disparity raises serious concerns about how uneven training may contribute to unequal outcomes. Combined with nationwide data that shows the effects of law enforcement presence on suspension, expulsion, and arrest are all nearly three times larger for students with disabilities than for students without disabilities, this paints a troubling picture for Florida's students, especially those with disabilities.

Further, laws passed in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting required schools to invest in the safety and mental health of students. Yet, without counselors or nurses to assist students in crisis, police repeatedly respond to situations which could be more appropriately handled by a medical and/or mental health professional.  And, in the absence of support and context from these professionals, law enforcement risk coding and identifying disability-related behaviors as violent or non-compliant.

An analysis of data from the Department of Education by the Center for Public Integrity finds that students with disabilities are disproportionately arrested and physically harmed by school police.[9] Students with disabilities are three times more likely to be arrested than students without disabilities, and that risk is multiplied when schools have police physically present in the school. When other overlapping factors such as race and class are considered, this violence is further amplified.

Despite disability-related protections built into the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Baker Act (also referred to as The Florida Mental Health Act), students with disabilities are still routinely facing involuntary examination. And often for incidents which are a manifestation of their disability. This is not only an inappropriate use of the Baker Act but fails to provide students with the support they actually need. For example, the United States Department of Justice investigated Pasco County Schools and found that the district was disproportionately expelling and Baker Acting students with disabilities.[10] The Department of Justice (DOJ) also found that the district was engaging in inappropriate use of threat assessment practices created in the wake of Stoneman-Douglas and profiling students as individuals who would likely become criminals later in life. This was done through data shared between the schools and the police, using metrics such as a students‘ grades, disciplinary record, and attendance to predict who may be a perpetrator of violence. Students of color, students of low-income or less-resourced backgrounds, and students with disabilities were overwhelmingly disproportionately represented in the school/police's data. This type of data collection and utilization as well as the pro forma involvement of law enforcement in situations that do not involve criminality – but are better addressed through a disability, mental health, or societal context – do not address the needs of our youth.

What Students Need

SROs and law enforcement have a role to play within the school community. However, in order to best serve all students, we need schools to invest in nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers who can meet the needs of our youth in ways that law enforcement is not designed to. Furthermore, school discipline, threat assessment, and other policies must be evaluated holistically and in a manner that does not bias or harm marginalized students. To do this effectively, more trauma- and disability-informed training as well as person-centered interventions and a true effort to understand the individual needs and strengths of each student is required. Lastly, there is a societal need to challenge how people correlate violence with disability, especially mental health related disabilities. 

Footnotes

[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10823540/

[2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8002666/

[3] https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/SEAD-MentalHealth-Brief.pdf

[4] https://www.aclu.org/publications/cops-and-no-counselors

[5] https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/a988972b-1faa-4b5f-8b9e-a73b5ac44476/ratios-22-23-alpha.pdf

[6] https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Social-Emotional-and-Academic-Development-Through-an-Equity-Lens-August-6-2020.pdf

[7] https://wid.org/people-with-mental-illnesses-are-not-inherently-dangerous/

[8] https://www.nasro.org/faq/

[9] https://publicintegrity.org/education/criminalizing-kids/police-in-schools-disparities/#:~:text=A%20Center%20for%20Public%20Integrity,Native%20American%20and%20Latino%20children.

[10] https://disabilityrightsflorida.org/newsroom/story/PASCO_DOJ_Settlement