Washington County schools report expanded safety employee program, cite fewer fights and new operational supports

Washington County Public Schools officials told the Board of Education that a multi-year effort to place school safety employees (SSEs) in schools is providing daily operational support to principals and teachers and has been associated with reductions in some categories of student discipline.

School safety employees are stationed at seven schools and are tasked with monitoring students, staff and visitors during the school day, assisting with mandated drills and performing perimeter and restroom checks, said the district official who leads the safety program, mister Pru. "Our school safety employees are responsible for monitoring the safety of students and staff and visitors throughout our buildings and immediately around the perimeter of the school," mister Pru said.

District leaders and principals said SSEs supplement, but do not replace, school administrators or sworn police officers. SSEs enforce school rules, help run tabletop exercises and reunification operations, monitor cameras, and staff evening events. "They're often our first responders to a classroom when a teacher is having concerns," mister Pru said. Springfield Middle School principal Lindsay Varro told the board SSEs are visible at arrival and dismissal and meet weekly with school leadership; she said the school saw discipline referrals for physical attacks and fights drop from about 300 in 2022–23 to about 150 in the following year after SSE deployment.

Principals and SSEs described routine duties as both preventative and operational: layered bathroom sweeps, random perimeter checks, escorting students, supporting reunification, and acting as an extra set of eyes during crowded events such as playoff games. North Hagerstown High School staff said SSEs help manage large crowds at athletic events and can be redeployed rapidly for emergent issues, such as power outages that affect door latches.

SSEs also participate in after-action reviews and tabletop exercises intended to clarify roles during a crisis. The district has converted three retired food-service vans into SSE response vans equipped with canopies, tables and hot spots to support off-site reunification, mister Pru said.

Board members asked how the district measures SSE impact. District staff said quantitative measures are in development, including possible barcode or scan logging of door checks. Principal Lindsay Varro cited the drop in physical-attack referrals at her building as an example of measurable change; other district leaders reported a roughly 40% decline in suspensions systemwide compared with the previous year, though staff said a mixed-methods approach—combining quantitative counts and qualitative observations of safety and climate—would be needed to evaluate the program fully.

The board discussed trade-offs between SSEs and sworn school resource officers (SROs). The district said SSEs handle everyday rule enforcement and proximity-based prevention more often, while SROs, who are sworn law-enforcement personnel, intervene when incidents become matters of probable cause or when a legal investigation is required. The district also noted SSEs are more numerous and generally less costly to staff than SROs.

District staff invited board questions and said they will continue to refine metrics that demonstrate impact.