RICHMOND, Va. — A bill introduced in the Virginia General Assembly this month would require public school divisions across the state to employ at least one school resource officer in each public elementary and secondary school.
“Our kids are our most precious resource,” said Delegate Mark Earley, a Republican representing parts of Chesterfield County who introduced the bill in the House of Delegates this month. “[Children] are what we care about the most, and you protect the things you care about, and you try to put them in the safest environment possible.”
If passed in its current form, the bill would require each public school board to “enter into a collaborative agreement with the local law-enforcement agency to employ at least one school resource officer in each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division and provides that no school board shall be granted any full or partial waiver from such staffing requirements,” according to the bill's summary.
Watch previous coverage: Law enforcement shortages, funding impact School Resource Officer staffing
As News 3 has reported, school divisions in the Hampton Roads area already have School Resource Officer programs, but funding for their salaries and law enforcement staffing shortages have prevented divisions from having an SRO solely dedicated to each school campus full time.
While the bill does not address law enforcement staffing shortages, it does address funding, explaining that there is a “contingent effective date that states that the foregoing requirement shall become effective beginning with the fiscal year in which funding has been provided pursuant to the general appropriation act to fully fund such requirement.”
“I think in some ways it is aspirational,” said Earley. “We're not going to force it to happen until, you know, [the state does] our part in funding it.”
Watch previous coverage: Chesapeake Sheriff's Office adds more School Resource Deputies to Chesapeake schools
News 3 reached out to leaders at public school divisions across Hampton Roads to get their take on the bill.
“To fully realize [the bill’s] potential, we encourage the Governor to amend the proposed budget to include funding for this initiative,” read a statement from the Hampton City Schools division.
“We support having a trained police officer in all schools, funded by the state,” echoed Virginia Beach City Schools Superintendent Dr. Donald Robertson.
Watch related coverage: Chesapeake students welcomed back by new school resource officers
Governor Glenn Youngkin has supported increases in the state budget to expand SROs, but it has not been enough to fund an SRO for every public school campus.
According to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, the state agency that keeps SRO data, there are 1,074 individuals serving as SROs in the Commonwealth. A DCJS Freedom of Information Act officer said 857 are full-time assigned to one school, 201 are full-time but assigned to multiple schools, and 16 are part-time assigned to one or multiple schools.
A 2022 fiscal impact study for a similar measure that failed to retain the SRO mandate revealed there were under 700 schools across the state without coverage from the School Resource Officer.
Watch related coverage: Student Resource Officer awarded for role strengthening Franklin community
While most public school divisions in Virginia have SRO programs in place, a few eliminated their program in recent years, includingCharlottesville City Schools in 2020. Data surrounding thedisproportionate policing of children of color by SROs has been part of the discussion surrounding use of the program, especially after the murder of George Floyd at the hand of law enforcement.
Earley said he hopes the bill will gain bipartisan support. News 3 will follow through with updates through the General Assembly session.
