VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — We may be a step closer to seeing a school resource officer (SRO) in every public school in Virginia.
SROs have the job of watching over students, but Leetreona Matthews of Norfolk said an SRO is more than that for her son and other students.
“They can look at that person as being a trusted provider, a trusted person they can look up to and confide in,” Matthews said.
Some Virginia lawmakers want to require all schools to have an SRO, a priority for Governor Glenn Youngkin. Delegate Karen Greenhalgh of Virginia Beach introduced a bill to do so, which has since passed the House.
State Senator Bill DeSteph proposed a similar bill this session, but it didn’t pass in his chamber.
“We are doing it for the entire Commonwealth,” DeSteph said. “I truly believe that that young indoctrination to an SRO is the opportunity and the ability to create a relationship with the child in the beginning, all the way through school.”
The impact statement in Greenhalgh's bill cites information from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, which estimates more than 650 schools do not have an SRO.
However, it does not have data for school security officers who are unarmed. Greenhalgh’s bill would require schools to have at least one SRO or SSO.
Jeremey Rodden, a dad from Chesapeake, said he wants to see money spent on more school counselors and nurses.
“We can work with the kids before they get to that point,” Rodden said. “We can work with the parents when a professional can notice something that maybe someone else would miss without the same level of training.”
Greenhalgh’s legislation says a full-time SRO would cost about $125,000 with salary, benefits, equipment vehicle, and training. The bill heads to the Senate next.
We reached out to police departments across Hampton Roads. The Virginia Beach Police Department has 29 SRO’s, with one at every middle school and high school.
Those officers also are assigned to an elementary school and elementary school administrators reach out to them as needed.
The Chesapeake Police Department says it has 18 SRO’s, with one assigned to each middle school and high school. They also service elementary schools as needed.