Some Worcester Public Schools students and staff are back inside buildings for in-person learning, but school resource officers are not.

The city council recently voted 6-5 to remove school resource officers by the end of the year.

As of Monday, the officers are no longer assigned in person to the schools, but they will be working outside of them.

School Safety Director Rob Pezzella said it's still his priority to make sure students are safe.

“I hope the community at large knows we’re going to do everything we can to promote safety and work continuously with the Worcester Police Department. They’ve been great partners with us. And as far as having community-based support for students who need all sorts of support services that will help them succeed, then we want to make sure that we work with the community, too,” said Pezzella.

City Manager Ed Augustus recommended removing resource officers from schools last month as part of an executive order recognizing institutional and structural racism as a public health crisis.

The city expanded its school resource officers at high schools and middle schools in 2015.