Students and parents demand transparency, call for resignations after SRO program ended

Several students, parents and community members used the public-comment period at the Northshore School District board working session to condemn the board’s recent decision to end the district’s long‑standing school resource officer (SRO) program at one high school and to demand greater transparency.

"I respectfully call on the four board members who voted to eliminate the SRO program to resign," said Natalie Banks, a freshman, arguing the vote ignored student testimony about Officer Wear’s contributions to safety and relationships on campus. Caitlyn Mahachek, a senior, told the board residents "deserve the facts" and pressed officials to release the data that informed the vote, saying students were asked to "trust" a decision without seeing the supporting evidence.

Multiple adult speakers echoed those concerns and said the community had not been given an opportunity for meaningful review before the contract expired. Lori Ferolo said a requested collaborative meeting to review the rationale and data had not occurred and called for the board to "review the meetings, look at your personal biases, and revote." Several commenters asserted the decision has generated local and regional media attention and amplified community anger.

Board action on the SRO contract itself was not recorded in this meeting’s minutes; public speakers described the earlier vote and sought a reconsideration or a restorative community meeting. Speakers also raised practical questions about how the student needs Officer Wear met would be addressed going forward and urged the district to involve students in evaluating alternative supports.

The meeting record shows strong community emotion: some speakers announced the board had been uninvited from upcoming graduation ceremonies, and several called for resignations. Board members did not make any substantive public response during the comment period in the transcript, and no new action or formal reversal of the SRO decision occurred at this meeting.

Next steps: Commenters urged the board to publish the data and rationale behind the prior vote, to hold a community meeting before the contract’s expiration date mentioned by several speakers (June 17), and to clarify what personnel or programmatic alternatives will replace the supports students said the SRO provided.