Far-left school board members adhere to the teacher's union "Defund the Police" platform and refuse advice from the Sherriff.
By: Sloan Rachmuuth
An unnamed Zebulon school was the target of threats of mass violence this week according to police reports. Seven other Wake County schools received threats of violence this week according to Sheriff Gerald Baker.
"We are tracking them down so we can find out who they are, and [make] sure that we stand in the way, and deter those threats from happening in our school," he said. Then Baker points out an obvious, yet crucial fact: "We have to do that because that could be that one opportunity to prevent something from happening."
Sheriff Baker calls for the district to put a school resource officer (SRO) on every campus to counter threats.
Wake County school board’s response to the Sheriff’s recommendation? Installing kiosks at the entrances of 200 schools to print badges for parents and visitors to the tune of $600K.
Parents in Wake County are concerned about the district's move.
This Twitter user makes a good point. Last Thursday, parents at Wakefield High School grew concerned after seeing a video showing widespread fights on campus, but had not heard from school officials. The school's SRO intervened and detained several juveniles, according to Wake County Schools.
According to State Representative Erin Pare, Wake County is one of only five districts statewide that did not apply for funds from the Department of Public Instruction for SROs. Pare points the finger at far-left school board member Monika Johnson-Hostler and board chair Lindsay Mahaffey for refusing to follow the Sheriff's call for more SROs.
Johnson-Hostler and Mahaffey's re-election campaigns are supported by NCAE, an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA) teacher’s union.
Last year the NEA created a task force to form a new policy on “safe, just, and equitable schools.” From the NEA website:
Having SROs in schools can actually create higher rates of behavioral incidents and spikes in suspensions, expulsions, and arrests.
While limited research suggests that SROs diminish bad behavior and are more likely to spot illegal activity in schools, other data show that students in vulnerable groups are more likely to be harshly punished.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF AN SRO?
From the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO):
An SRO is “a carefully selected, specifically trained, and properly equipped full-time law enforcement officer with sworn law enforcement authority, trained in school-based law enforcement and crisis response, assigned by the employing law enforcement agency to work in the school using community-oriented policing concepts.”
NASRO considers it a best practice to use a “triad concept” to define the three main roles of school resource officers: educator (i.e. guest lecturer), informal counselor/mentor, and law enforcement officer.
When school resource officers follow the NASRO's best practices, they do not arrest students for disciplinary issues that would normally be handled by teachers or administrators, claims the organization. Students who are troubled can avoid involvement with juvenile justice by working with SROs according to NASRO.
The General Assembly boosted funding for SROs this year with $15 million for a Grant program for schools. An additional $26 million will be allocated to help districts provide one SRO per high school.
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