expanding the conversation on sros

Although I know I have to make decisions regarding officers in schools as a board member, my thoughts on the issue are not as simple as a yes or no. 

I had positive experiences with school resource officers (SRO) when I attended West High School in the early 2000s, as our neighborhood officer (South Madison) was the SRO. However, that was not the case for my brothers, and many other students, especially black and brown students. When a crime happens and an investigation needs to take place, I want police officers to be able to do their job. At the same time, if there is trouble managing a classroom, I do not want the police called on to be used to manage student behavior. Crimes are different from behavior issues. This doesn’t take away from the fact that students, teachers, and staff need to be safe from violence in our schools.
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Therefore to give a yes or no answer to a complex issue is purely political. We are supposed to be having a conversation about safety, which isn't only about physical safety. 

• How do SROs affect people, especially students? Is this the only role that serves as a solution to physical safety? 
  • If my answer is yes, then what conversations and accountability measures will be in place that ensure ongoing culturally responsive trauma informed training is done? 

• How can students, teachers and the community feel safe beyond physical safety from legally defined criminal acts? 
  • If my answer is no, how are we to ensure that our students and teacher have a sense of physical safety from legally defined criminal acts? 
  • Do we have enough staff that are trauma informed? 
  • Do we have enough social workers? 
    

• How do we engage the community to provide services our schools may need?
  
  • I have thought long and hard about this issue, and I cannot give a yes or no answer. However, as it stands currently, I would say I do not support them. This is because I believe that our district has not pushed for improvements like the ones that would be standard expectations in a business or in a non-profit setting
    • requiring training; 
    • establishing in-school protocols; 
    • retaining the right to give job performance feedback; 
    • clear guidelines on not being used for behavior management, but being available for actual crimes, etc.

Last, I do not see evidence that there has been a serious examination of better staffing for counselors and social workers. There probably has been, and if so I think the Board would benefit from having a more transparent discussion of the decision making.

I want to make decisions that will be the best for all our students and teachers. My vote will reflect what the students, teachers, community members and administrators come up with together. This requires considering all of the possibilities. ​