Continued School Resource Officers Recommended By ACPS Advisory Group

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The School Law Enforcement Partnership Advisory Group recommends the continued presence of school resource officers at Alexandria City Public Schools. The recommendation will be presented to the Alexandria City School Board Thursday night.

The advisory group was created to "reimagine" the future of the partnership between ACPS and the Alexandria Police Department. Members include ACPS staff, students, community members and representatives from city government and the police department.

The recommendation report being presented to the School Board Thursday calls for ACPS working with City Council to continue school resource officer funding.

"SROs are part of a holistic program, and will not independently solve safety concerns but they belong in the mix, and will require continued funding at either current or elevated levels," the advisory group's presentation reads. "Removing SROs would send a message to many families and community members that ACPS does not take seriously the violence that has occurred at regular intervals in the last year."

The advisory group also recommends other actions relating to school resource officers and safety, including annual de-escalation training, a policy on prompt incident reporting to parents, and a study on why minority students are arrested at higher rates.

The presence of school resource officers at the middle and high school campuses has been a topic of discussion over the last few years at ACPS. In 2021, City Council had removed funding for school resource officers in its annual budget, later redirecting funds to mental health-related positions at the school district. But when incidents of violence at the start of the 2021-2022 school drew concerns from school and community members, school resource officers were returned.

While a new ACPS memorandum of understanding with the Alexandria Police Department was put in place, the School Law Enforcement Partnership Advisory Group was formed to determine the future of partnership with police.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares got involved in the debate in August by sending a letter to Mayor Justin Wilson seeking a focus on school safety and continued support for school resource officers. The concerns about school safety centered about the off-campus stabbing death of Alexandria City High School student Luis Mejia Hernandez, 18, at the end of the last school year. Miyares visited ACPS in November, which drew positive responses from the Republican attorney general and Democratic city leaders.