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Status of school resource officer uncertain as district cites more crisis than criminal calls
Summary
Superintendent Aaron Dean told the committee the town controls hiring and personnel for the SRO while the district has redirected funds to immediate building needs; members urged using data on crisis vs. criminal calls to inform whether to restore the position.
The committee discussed the school resource officer (SRO) role during new business on Sept. 15. Superintendent Aaron Dean said the town supplies and ultimately controls the personnel side of an SRO position while the district has at times contributed toward funding. He said the town has not decided on a future direction and, in the meantime, the district has had to use funds for immediate building needs that might otherwise have supported the position.
Dean told the committee that crisis-related calls in the buildings have outnumbered criminal calls and that "perception vs reality" will be important in future decisions. Committee member Tracey Tierney said it would be important to examine data on incidents to determine whether an SRO is justified, implying the committee may request or review that data before taking further steps.
No formal vote or decision on the SRO was taken; the discussion closed with a direction to use data to inform the conversation going forward.
