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 participation in hiring and oversight.

School leaders and program staff described how SROs would be integrated if the MOU is finalized. Todd Coogler, the division’s coordinator of safety and security, said assigning SROs to schools restores day-to-day communications and familiarity that the division lost when SROs were previously absent. Coogler said an officer assigned to a campus can immediately confirm whether a community police response is required during an incident, reducing the risk that unfamiliar responding officers will escalate a scene.

“We can downgrade our response, and he can handle the incident without bringing additional officers onto our campuses that are armed and ready to engage,” Coogler said. He and other presenters described benefits for threat-assessment work, emergency preparation and consistent relationships between officers and staff.

School mental-health and threat-assessment staff said having officers trained specifically to work with youth should make threat-assessment interviews and other difficult interactions safer and more predictable. Jody Murphy, the district’s mental wellness coordinator, said returning SROs would help “move us from individuals to systems,” by making the threat-assessment process more consistent and by ensuring officers who participate understand student needs and local protocols.

Representatives also described supports for students with disabilities: staff said individualized education program (IEP) teams will document behavior intervention plans and relevant context so assigned officers understand a student’s communication needs and avoid misunderstandings. A special-education staff member said the in-school presence could reduce the risk of harmful interactions by familiarizing officers with students’ behaviors and support plans.

Many principals and instructional staff who participated in the work group described instructional and community roles for SROs, including classroom presentations tied to required personal-safety lessons and driver-education modules. Jessica Brantley, the health, PE and driver-education coordinator, cited the Code of Virginia requirement that personal-safety training be provided to seventh- and eighth-grade students and said an on-site officer could help deliver or supplement that instruction.

Lieutenant Greg Wade, CPD’s community-services liaison, addressed concerns about federal enforcement partnerships. Asked whether CPD would enter agreements that might allow federal immigration authorities to operate in schools, Wade said the department currently has “absolutely no plans to do that,” and that any federal involvement would require a separate, explicit agreement.

Work-group leaders said the draft MOU will include termination language allowing the district or the city to withdraw if circumstances “beyond local control” make the partnership inconsistent with local values or safety expectations. Superintendent Mark Gurley (title used in meeting) and others emphasized the documents are intended to be living: the MOU outlines the broad framework while the SOP will house operational details and will be updated more frequently as training and practices evolve.

Funding and staffing remains a central implementation issue. Work-group members said the unanimous recommendation is that CPD fund SROs through the city payroll rather than the school division budget; that approach matches the practices of some other jurisdictions and reduces fiscal administration complexity, presenters said. Board members also heard a staffing plan: two officers would be based at Charlottesville High School, one officer would be based at Charlottesville Middle School as a floater, and the unit would include a supervisor (sergeant) who would also operate as a floater.

School leaders and community liaisons outlined the next steps: the draft MOU will be posted to the district site for public comment and an informational packet and frequently asked questions will be made available. The district plans engagement events, including an Aug. 26 public conversation listed in district communications as the “Can I Talk to You?” event, and staff said the plan includes ongoing focus groups, targeted surveys and a mechanism for community feedback following SRO interactions.

Student representative Meyer, who reviewed the draft, told the board he supports the work-group recommendation that CPD fund officers and said he values the emphasis on officers who are “part of the community.”

The MOU and SOP are expected to be revised after public comment and then executed by the superintendent and the CPD chief if both parties agree. Work-group members emphasized that implementation will include multi-agency training, student and staff orientation, and processes for review and accountability.

Ending: The draft MOU will be available for comment on the Charlottesville City Schools website beginning tomorrow; work-group and school leaders encouraged community members to review the document and attend planned events to share feedback that will shape the MOU and the operating procedures that follow.