At the Saturday, May 18, School Board work session, the Board reviewed information about the possibility of adding to our current safety model several “youth resource officers” from the Charlottesville Police Department (CPD). The information – presented by Dr. Gurley and Police Chief Kochis – was generated by a working group after a February safety survey showed that 60% of respondents “strongly” or “very strongly” supported exploring the possibility of having these specially trained officers in our schools and the community (vs. 25% "strongly" or "very strongly" opposed to learning more).
This possible partnership with police would focus on diversion from the criminal justice system and would borrow elements from the world of social work to address student and family needs. Saturday’s presentation and discussion focused on the possibility of hiring three officers (these positions are not currently reflected in either the City or the Schools budget). The three officers – one for CHS, one for Buford, and one to support evening activities at school or in the community – would be trained in areas such as youth development, de-escalation, and mental health. The new Memorandum of Understanding with CPD would reflect key changes, including that the schools would have a voice in the hiring of the youth resource officers.
At the end of the discussion, the Board voted to place this item on the agenda for its May 30 meeting. At this time, the Board will vote on whether youth resource officers will be included in the school safety model.
How Can You Learn More and Share Your Perspective?
You can find the slides here.
Attend an upcoming outreach event. The following “walk and talks” and “courtside chats” are scheduled for police and school staff to answer questions and hear feedback:
Wednesday, May 22 (today) 4:00-5:00 PM Greenstone on 5th
Wednesday, May 29 4:30-5:30 PM Ridge/South 1st
You can also email the Board at schoolboard@charlottesvilleschools.org.
Why Did a Working Group Research the Possibility of Adding Youth Resource Officers to our Safety Model?
School leaders often refer to safety as a “continual improvement process.” We have found success by doubling the staffing of school mental health professionals, training a team of Care & Safety Assistants, and working to build relationships and strengthen our community. Even so, the absence of police officers in our school creates communications challenges, increases response time, and generates a greater administrative burden on school leaders for tasks such as record-keeping and scheduling threat assessment teams. In addition, in keeping with national trends, Charlottesville is seeing a rise in juvenile access to firearms. Finally, the reality is that police officers are already in our schools on a near-daily basis attending to a wide array of (mostly non-emergency) issues. Therefore, we have looked at other schools’ models for incorporating police presence in a way that aligns with adolescent development, mental health, and restorative practices. As a related reminder, we will begin using weapons detection at ticketed events, and we are continually working on other ways to promote safety such as lighting, door access monitoring, and more.
We recognize that there is a wide range of opinions in our community about this possibility. You can find some of the representative “pros” and “cons” concerning adding youth resource officers to our school safety plan, below.
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