Vote NO to the SRO

I am writing to oppose the transfer of funds from the school department to be used to hire a school resource officer.

Those in favor of this allocation have described how the rise in drug-related incidents at Westford Academy has increased since eliminating the SRO position. I know they have the right intentions. But I don't believe this is the solution. Our goal should not be to catch offenders. It should be to prevent use.

Something else has happened around the time the SRO position was eliminated. The school department implemented $1M in fees, making it more difficult for students to participate in school sponsored activities or get to afterschool jobs.

I say let's keep the money in the school department so they can use it to provide fee waivers or reductions, tutoring, and other support that these students need.

Let's have them work with the community to expand after school offerings so that more students in middle and high school have places to go and things to do that will help keep the temptations of idle time at arms length.

$20,000 could provide 400 fee waivers, or stipends for 10 new activities, or several dozen gaming consoles at a teen center. And we'd still have some left over to offer a reward for tips leading to the arrest of local dealers.

Hiring an SRO is a scare tactict. What we need is a CARE tactic.

I hope you will join me in opposing this funds transfer at the special Town Meeting next week.

Diane Weir

Lowell Rd