Schools Need Police Officers, Board Of Education Decides: Report

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — The Prince George's County Board of Education voted Monday to continue funding its 33 school resource officers, WUSA9 reported. These law enforcers, known as SROs, are employed by local police departments and contracted by the schools. They have arrest powers and carry weapons just like any other officer.

Constituents questioned their presence after George Floyd, a Black man, died last May while a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his kneck. Floyd's death sparked nationwide protests and conversations about the role of police officers.

Prince George's County launched a Police Reform Task Force in response. The committee examined the duties of SROs and the school system's own security staff. Sixty-six of the private security guards have arrest powers, but none carry weapons.

The group recommended that Prince George's County Public Schools continue to fund SROs while slowly dialing back private security. It suggested diverting some of the saved money toward mental health resources.

PGCPS CEO Monica Goldson accepted the proposal and turned to the school board for approval. The board upheld the decision during its Monday meeting.

Before its final vote, the school system asked students, families, community members and employees about their thoughts on SROs. About 82 percent of the 13,000 respondents said SROs are "very important" or "important," PGCPS said.

Granted, the question did not give an equal number of negative options. The only other options were "somewhat important" and "not important." PGCPS noted that 12 percent of participants think SROs are somewhat important, and six percent believe they are not important.

It's also worth mentioning that the survey asked only about SROs, not the private security that the school system just rolled back.

SROs made 32 arrests last school year, records show. With double the staffing, private security arrested 242 people.

To view the full survey and arrest records, click here.

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