Charlottesville schools to post draft SRO MOU after work group finds majority support, community concerns

Charlottesville City Schools officials said a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) to return school resource officers (SROs) to city schools will be posted on the district website for public review and comment starting tomorrow, after a multi-stakeholder work group and student and community focus groups produced a draft this summer.

The draft MOU and its associated standard operating procedures are intended to define the SRO role, training and oversight, staff members said during the board meeting. The work group said it will use community feedback to refine both documents before the superintendent and the Charlottesville Police Department (CPD) finalize an agreement for the city and school leaders to sign.

School leaders and members of the work group told the board the engagement process included student focus groups (roughly 100 students across grades), staff, principals and community partners, and that the input shaped the draft MOU. Denise Johnson, supervisor of strategic initiatives, said the work group’s early finding was that “80% of individuals who are polled, whether they were students or adults, either somewhat or definitely agreed with returning SROs back into the schools.”

At the same time, focus-group participants raised repeated concerns the work group framed as priorities to address in the MOU and SOPs: the presence of firearms on campus, potential student discomfort and trauma, overlap and clarity of duties among administrators, CSAs (school security aides) and SROs, and detailed expectations for training and visibility. Denise Johnson summarized those points and said focus groups requested “clear role definitions,” transparency and community…