Alexandria City Council to end SRO program at ACPS

[Anonymous]

Has this been discussed here? ACPS parents, how do you feel about this?

The Alexandria City Council on Monday night effectively put an end to the School Resource Office program between the police department at Alexandria City Public Schools.
School resources officers (SROs), police officers stationed inside T.C. Williams High School, Francis Hammond Middle School and George Washington Middle School, will no longer have offices in those schools.
Council deliberated for more than two hours over City Councilman Mo Seifeldein’s proposal to reallocate $789,909 for SRO funding to add mental health resources to ACPS, support staff to the Teen Wellness Center, hire an additional Behavioral Health Specialist to the Alexandria Crisis Intervention CoResponding Program Pilot.

https://www.alxnow.com/2021/05/04/alexandria-city-council-to-end-school-resource-officer-program-at-alexandria-city-public-schools/

[Anonymous]

Ew, that is a BAD idea. The principals advocated very hard that they want and need the SROs. The SB is paying principals to tell them what they need and the SB is deliberately ignoring them. Will they ever learn?

[Anonymous]

I think there are valid points to be made on both sides of this issue. I just wish City Council would be as active in holding ACPS accountable for plans, reports, actions and results as they seem to be about this one issue. The school board isn't going to do it - so please - someone step up and attempt to get some accountability here!

[Anonymous]

This is a big mistake....SROs help students who are being cyberbullied and are the victims of theft from other students. And, (800-pound elephant in the room) if there was a shooting, you would want them there.

[Anonymous]

All these people talking about a school to prison pipeline, should be aware that TrayVon Martin should have been in jail when he was shot, except the school had a special program in place to end the school to prison pipeline.

The superintendent won a major national award, and a similar plan was done in a neighboring district. Another kid who should have been in jail, because they were trying to avoid the school to prison pipeline, was instead merely expelled/suspended, and he ended up shooting people at Parkland High School.

[Anonymous]

After the SRO in Knox County got a student killed, the system needs to be changed.

The removal of SROs from schools doesn't have to be permanent. It can just be a change that will be followed later by another change.

[Anonymous]

More wokeness?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a big mistake....SROs help students who are being cyberbullied and are the victims of theft from other students. And, (800-pound elephant in the room) if there was a shooting, you would want them there.

+1

[Anonymous]

I’m a teacher and personally, I’ve worked with good SRO’s (or at least not bad ones) but I can’t lie, I hate the optics of having a COP in our school. It just sucks. We aren’t a prison. We don’t need LEO there and it is deeply uncomfortable for some kids. I agree they shouldn’t be in schools.

[Anonymous]

The above poster seems only to have seen the uniform, which is exactly the type of intolerance that we're supposed to be working against. It reflects poorly on all adults in our school community when someone spouts that type of bias to children.

The students at our school respect our SRO and appreciate the SRO's presence in our building. As another poster pointed out, students are worried about violence against them by an outsider and the students find the presence of an SRO reassuring and calming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The above poster seems only to have seen the uniform, which is exactly the type of intolerance that we're supposed to be working against. It reflects poorly on all adults in our school community when someone spouts that type of bias to children.

The students at our school respect our SRO and appreciate the SRO's presence in our building. As another poster pointed out, students are worried about violence against them by an outsider and the students find the presence of an SRO reassuring and calming.

I wonder if the students at Parkland thought the same of their SRO?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The above poster seems only to have seen the uniform, which is exactly the type of intolerance that we're supposed to be working against. It reflects poorly on all adults in our school community when someone spouts that type of bias to children.

The students at our school respect our SRO and appreciate the SRO's presence in our building. As another poster pointed out, students are worried about violence against them by an outsider and the students find the presence of an SRO reassuring and calming.

I don’t spout any bias to children dummy. You think I’m sitting in class ever talking about the SRO? Uh no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All these people talking about a school to prison pipeline, should be aware that TrayVon Martin should have been in jail when he was shot, except the school had a special program in place to end the school to prison pipeline.

The superintendent won a major national award, and a similar plan was done in a neighboring district. Another kid who should have been in jail, because they were trying to avoid the school to prison pipeline, was instead merely expelled/suspended, and he ended up shooting people at Parkland High School.

I think people are naive in thinking the presence of SROs is the problem. If you want to reform the system, fine; but you have to do it carefully and thoughtfully and put in all the resources necessary to avoid these types of situations. I think it's a valid point to try to get kids the help they need rather than just punish them and throw them in jail. However, schools are not psychiatric specialists; they are not law enforcement; they are not parents. Schools are educators and their responsibility is to educate. Schools cannot be all things. They need expert assistance, coordination, and collaboration with the other appropriate professionals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and personally, I’ve worked with good SRO’s (or at least not bad ones) but I can’t lie, I hate the optics of having a COP in our school. It just sucks. We aren’t a prison. We don’t need LEO there and it is deeply uncomfortable for some kids. I agree they shouldn’t be in schools.

Why is there no middle ground or more creative thinking than yes SROs or no SROs? Why do SROs have to be in full police uniform (though i believe SROs can serve to build relationsihps and trust between students and the police)? If the uniform is so intimidating, make them plain clothes officers. Give them some roles in the school that foster a positive image and foster positive relationships with the kids, especialy the at-risk kids (helping out in classrooms, an after-school club, helping out in PE classes, whatever.

My 13 y/o daughter brought this topic up recently and she thinks it's stupid to get rid of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and personally, I’ve worked with good SRO’s (or at least not bad ones) but I can’t lie, I hate the optics of having a COP in our school. It just sucks. We aren’t a prison. We don’t need LEO there and it is deeply uncomfortable for some kids. I agree they shouldn’t be in schools.

Why is there no middle ground or more creative thinking than yes SROs or no SROs? Why do SROs have to be in full police uniform (though i believe SROs can serve to build relationsihps and trust between students and the police)? If the uniform is so intimidating, make them plain clothes officers. Give them some roles in the school that foster a positive image and foster positive relationships with the kids, especialy the at-risk kids (helping out in classrooms, an after-school club, helping out in PE classes, whatever.

My 13 y/o daughter brought this topic up recently and she thinks it's stupid to get rid of them.

it's the police powers that are intimidating. They can elevate school disciplinary problems to criminal justice problems on a whim. Hire security guards without police powers and have principals willing to call the real police when it's necessary