On July 7th, 2020, the Phoenix Union School District Superintendent announced that the district would not reauthorize their annual agreement with the city of Phoenix for on-campus police officers. The win comes after 3 years of organizing by Latinx and immigrant youth at Puente Human Rights Movement. Puente launched their #CopsOuttaCampus campaign in May of 2017, calling for the removal of all police from the Phoenix Union High School District and pushing to end all contact between undocumented students and law enforcement in schools.
As a result of consistent pressure by students of color, Phoenix Union will invest $1.2 million in a participatory budget initiative for parents and students to define what school safety means for district schools. Puente is actively organizing to ensure that the district cancels its contract for school policing permanently, and that young people are centered in the decision-making and implementation of police free schools.
