Should Columbia schools have SROs? Advocacy groups argue against it, but contract approved
Building relationships with students and staff are part of the purpose behind school resources officers, said Interim Police Chief Matt Stephens.
He was addressing the Columbia City Council Monday regarding the three-year contract between the police department and Columbia Public Schools. The contract was approved by the school district in a special meeting last month.
The council followed suit unanimously approving the contract Monday night.
"You are cutting down on response times if you have an incident at a school," Stephens said, adding that a lot of the components of the contract match the previous contract, which had expired.
Police keep a tracking sheet for interactions with students, department staff said in answering a question from Ward 6 Council Member Betsy Peters.
An SRO isn't there for general school discipline, per department policy, said Jill Schlude, assistant chief.
Chriss Jones, speaking for Hold CoMo Accountable, provided three articles on SROs and studies on their presence in schools to the council.
"The little research that has been done, they have found SROS negatively impact students," she said, referencing increased suspensions, reduced feelings of safety and the creation of prison-like environments in schools.
Jones pushed back on the assertion that SROs are not part of disciplinary actions, relating an anecdote from an unnamed CPS special education teacher.
She also referenced the disparity rate for out-of-school suspensions, where Black students are suspended more often than white students.
"I'm asking you to vote no for this. I'm asking for you vacate the contract altogether," she said.
Renee Carter, with Race Matters Friends, also spoke against the SRO contract, speaking on school disparities in relation to children with disabilities and children of color.
"Little if any research has shown the presence of police officers in schools, has shown to make many changes. The changes that do make schools safer are environmental changes where it's harder to get inside," she said. "... We need to sit back and understand what the research really says about this, rather than doing what we always have done."
More: Columbia school board approves contracts for SROs, High Road special ed services
Hickman High School Student Helen Hinnant-Root, who also is on the city's Youth Advisory Council, spoke in support of SROs.
"I would rather have someone trained to interact with students and someone regularly there," she said.
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia renews school resource officer contract with school district
