Last week, Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer (D- South Los Angeles) hosted the second hearing of the Select Committee on Ending the School to Prison Pipeline to discuss the impact of wraparound services for students.
“During our first hearing of the Assembly Select Committee on Ending the School to Prison Pipeline, we heard about the importance of providing our students with support in the classroom,” said Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer, Sr. “Just as importantly, we heard how many of the issues that students face stem from previously experienced trauma. As a result, this second hearing focused on the supportive services we can provide to students and their families, and how a coordinated system of services provides the resources necessary to overcome their trauma.”
The hearing was held at John C. Fremont High School where speakers from across the state came to discuss topics ranging from school based health programs currently in place to how unconscious bias and other environmental factors can act as barriers to accessing necessary services.
Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer, Sr. was joined by Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner, Los Angeles County Office of Education Chief Academic Officer Arturo Valdez, and John C. Fremont High School Principal Blanca Esquivel, among numerous other speakers, advocates, and parents for this important conversation.
“I would like to thank all of our panelists and everyone that attended this hearing. I will take everything we learned and work with my colleagues to put together policy ideas to start dismantling the school to prison pipeline,” said Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer, Sr. “Our youth are our future. We must stop waiting until students come into contact with the criminal justice system and start investing in them up front.”