This spring, Poudre School District will have its second vote regarding the Student Resource Officer contracts and whether or not to renew them. 

Last June, the PSD Board of Education voted to renew the contracts for the School Resource Officers, however, since then a lot of things have changed and there has been nationwide police disapproval which may impact the board’s decision-making process.

Although the large amounts of police on civilian violence and protests from this summer are slowly winding down, a lot of people are still starting to question the role law enforcement plays in our society. One of the larger SRO opposed groups that have formed is called School Justice PSD. 

Since their founding, School Justice PSD has come together with one goal: to remove SRO’s from PSD schools and put that money towards a better mental health support system for students. 

A lot of people are starting to open their minds to different forms of student discipline and the way we react to illegal activities inside school walls. Many people’s fears are generated from the impact of charges on your permanent record during your middle school and high school years and how they can negatively affect you for the rest of your life.

There are also a lot of people who would argue that police should be in schools and that they not only help with the safety of students but also act as a counseling resource. I had a conversation with the SRO at Fossil, Ehrich Weis and he had a few things to say about the SRO training and responsibilities. 

Weis stated, “A lot of people don’t know, but we’re based on a thing called a triad. So like a triangle, it’s law enforcement, counselor, teacher, mentor, and guest speaker. But the law enforcement part is usually the smallest part.” 

In regards to the SRO training, he said that “In Fort Collins, we train once a month, there’s a whole entire day that’s designated for training. SRO’s don’t get to do that training every month, because we’re in the schools, but in the summertime, I do a boot camp, where I start school before you guys do and we do all of our training for two weeks straight. Then we do training throughout the year when you guys have days off.” 

The main question that the district faces is, do police officers belong in schools? There are many sides to the argument and a lot of things for the Board to consider when they vote on the plan for the contracts this spring. SRO’s play a very important role in PSD and removing them will largely affect the way PSD operates in the future. No matter what, their decision is there will always be a secure team of staff to help ensure a safe and positive school environment.