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Charlottesville schools finalize SRO MOU; agreement allows removal or termination without cause
Summary
The school board received a final draft of the SRO Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and related SOP updates; the MOU clarifies complaint procedures and states either party may end the agreement at any time. Staff said the chief and Doctor Gurley will sign the MOU and post the signed documents to the SRO webpage.
Charlottesville City Schools presented a finalized Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the planned school resource officer (SRO) program and described ongoing work on the associated standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Doctor Johnson, who led the presentation, said edits were made after community feedback and legal review. He told the board that the MOU’s preamble was simplified and that the document now “states that either party may end the agreement at any time.” He also described removal language for individual officers: “This change means an officer can be removed at any time for any reason.” Following the presentation, Doctor Gurley and the police chief will sign the MOU and the signed copy will be posted publicly, Doctor Johnson said.
The presentation noted changes to complaint-handling language that distinguish between concerns about an SRO and concerns about how school staff interacted with an SRO. Doctor Johnson said complaints about SRO conduct may be filed either with the school first or directly with the Charlottesville Police Department, and that the document now points users to a chart showing where edits were made.
Board members asked staff to reconcile apparent inconsistencies in timing language elsewhere in the document; staff agreed to correct a clause near the signature block so it aligns with the preamble. Doctor Johnson emphasized the SOPs remain a living document and that additional public review is planned in the spring or when the first officers are hired. He said posting and hiring steps can proceed without a budget impact once the MOU is signed.
The board’s discussion reflected community concern about both broad authority to end the program and the need for clear, accessible complaint and investigative steps. One member asked staff to double-check a 45-day rebuttal paragraph against the immediate-termination language; staff acknowledged the catch and committed to a fix. Doctor Johnson said the Google suggestion form will remain open on the SRO webpage for ongoing input.
Next steps: the chief and Doctor Gurley will sign the MOU, staff will post the signed documents, and the work group will continue refining SOPs with another public review before SROs are onboarded.
