HAMDEN, Conn. — The Hamden Public Schools Board of Education held a special session Wednesday night to discuss the role of a school resource officer.
The board went into executive session for nearly two hours with the Hamden police chief.
For eight months, the district has been working with the Strengthening Police and Community Partnerships council, a collaborative program with the town and the Department of Justice. The council has been reviewing old agreements between the town and police department following issues at the high school including kids with weapons and the installation of metal detectors.
The district wants to define what an SRO is and what it can and cannot do as the state does not have requirements. The district has an SRO at the middle school and at the high school.
They want to address mental health concerns appropriately while being fair to all students and respecting the administration and police. The district has not released the document yet laying out their plan but said they want to hold forums in the future to go over it with the public.
Secretary Réuel Parks said the "robust" document speaks to the relationship with the police and the SROs in schools to ensure safe schools.
Board Chairperson Melissa Kaplan said the increase of SROs in schools has increased the 'prison-to-pipeline' route and has increased the likelihood of student involvement with the juvenile justice system.
"We have to recognize this has impacted Black and Brown students and students with disabilities especially those with emotional behavior disorders," she said. "If SROs are going to be effectively used in a positive way to impact the Hamden school climate, I argue that admin and the Board of Ed. must be proactive in implementing the recommendations outlined by law, policing, education, and human rights organizations."
She said misuse can occur from SROs without clear requirements. Kaplan said the "legal document" will define the role of an SRO as well as oversight and student protection. It defines what they can and cannot do in schools by outlining the roles of SRO's, counselors, and administration.
The document will lay out wants to increase training to include behavioral management, child development communication techniques, anti-bias training, and disability awareness. They also want to develop a data collection and reporting system that allows disciplinary measures to be available to the public while keeping the confidentiality of students. More training for SRO's in the agreement would teach how to meet atypical behaviors because of disabilities as well as prevention, intervention, and de-escalation nonviolent conflict resolution training.
The topic of school resource officers and specifically armed guards has been a conversation many districts across the state have been putting the focus on since the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school in May. Lyme-Old Lyme, Madison, New Milford, Killingly, and East Hampton are among those looking to bring on armed staff.
RELATED: Survey reveals 2/3 of responding Connecticut schools have security officers, but most are not armed
East Hampton has had an armed officer at the high school since 2019 and the Board of Education recently approved hiring three more for its elementary and middle schools. They are asking the town for $150,000 per year for the roles.
“I see the additional armed security officers as a deterrent to those who may think our schools are soft targets. We have a broad range of security features throughout our schools and an armed security officer is one more layer of safety for our students," Superintendent Paul Smith said in a statement to FOX61.
Killingly Public Schools wants to add an armed guard to their five schools to deter crime and enhance safety.
Tony Black is a multi-media journalist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tblack@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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