SUFFOLK, Va. — The city of Suffolk has allotted funding in its Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget for school resource officers (SROs) in Suffolk Public Schools' elementary schools.
Sean McGee, the vice chair of the Suffolk School Board, tells News 3 the school board approved to have SROs in the school district's 11 elementary schools. Upon the budget's adoption, he says next school year, each elementary school will have four SROs.
"We requested 11 SROs for every elementary school. Unfortunately, due to manning constraints in the police department, they can only provide four," McGee said.
"How will those four SROs man 11 elementary schools?" News 3's Leondra Head asked McGee, who responded, "That’s still being worked out by Chief of Police and [Superintendent] Dr. Gordon."
School resource officers are armed. McGee says each middle and high school in Suffolk already has an SRO.
One Suffolk father says he feels safer sending his kids to school with an officer present or nearby.
"It’s scary. With the day and age we’re in now, you just don’t know the mindset of a lot of people. In elementary schools, having a school resource officer there provides such a great feeling for us as parents," Carlo Moore said.
"Kilby Shores had an incident where a man walked into an elementary school. Was this any factor in adding SROs to the elementary schools?" News 3's Leondra Head asked McGee.
"It was on the table... to add SROs before Kilby, but I think that enhanced it," McGee said.
The Kilby Shores incident referenced above happened last June. A man trespassed onto school property at the elementary school and barricaded himself inside the bathroom with students in it, according to court documents.
About a month after the incident, News 3 Investigator Jessica Larché interviewed two school board members of the Suffolk Public Schools division. Both raised concerns surrounding safety, including the lack of an SRO assigned to the school.
Watch: Suffolk school board members talk safety, transparency after intruder incident
McGee says three of his kids were there when it happened.
"That really hit home for me as a dad. The two kids that were in the restroom held with the guy were classmates of my son," McGee said.
McGee says the next step is for the city to vote on and adopt the budget in May.
