Should Arlington Public Schools bring back school resource officers? Candidates running for School Board have starkly different opinions.
School Board candidate James “Vell” Rives IV used the Sept. 2 Arlington County Civic Federation candidate forum to press for a return of resource officers, known as SROs, which were removed from county schools four years ago.
Candidate Monique “Moe” Bryant, by contrast, acknowledged that school safety “is a big concern” but said a cohesive plan to address its multiple facets is needed.
Rives argued that replacing SROs with school safety officers is not providing an equivalent level of protection for students and staff.
Safety officers “are great folks — I have met them at my kids’ schools — but they are not armed, they are not sworn, they do not have the training of resource officers,” he said.
“I think the kids are vulnerable without having that higher presence of security,” Rives said.
Bryant, meanwhile, pressed for “panic buttons” that school administrators could wear and use to summon police, fire and emergency response as needed.
“We have to have an intersectional approach,” she said, pointing to mental-health services as a key component.
Asked by ARLnow after the meeting to clarify her views on SROs returning, Bryant said “it’s not a yes or no” type of question.
SROs “potentially could be part of the solution,” she said.
While not currently supporting a return, Bryant said her mind was open to discussion.
“Would I be willing to listen to other people? Absolutely,” she said.
The third candidate in the race, Major Mike Webb, did not address SROs directly. He said county leaders needed to take a proactive approach to uncovering potential threats.
“Security is always an illusion,” said Webb, who dealt with threat-assessment matters while in the U.S. Army. “What you want to do is have intelligence. You want to make sure you have those eyes on to make sure you can interdict early on.”
A 2020 survey of APS students conducted for the school system and the Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth and Families found that 69% of students in grades 4-5 reported feeling safe in school, while 73% of students in grades 6-12 reported the same.
In a similar survey this year, 85% of students from grades 4-12 reported feeling safe in class. While up from the 2020 data, the rate was below the goal of 90% set by the school system.
Both “Your Voice Matters” surveys were conducted by Panorama Education under contract to the school system. The 2020 survey was conducted in January and February, before the pandemic caused a lengthy shutdown in in-person education.
In 2021, Arlington became the second Northern Virginia jurisdiction after Alexandria to eliminate its SRO program. Alexandria later partially rescinded that decision, and other local school divisions have stuck with their SRO programs.
The three candidates are vying to succeed School Board member Mary Kadera, who announced in January she would not seek a second four-year term.
Bryant is the Democratic endorsee, and is making her first bid for elected office. Rives, who has the backing of the Forward Party, and Webb, running as an independent, have made several previous runs for office.
