SARATOGA SPRINGS — At the latest Saratoga Springs City School District Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, superintendent Michael Patton said he would ask the board to hire two SROs for the district’s elementary schools at their January meeting.
Patton said the district’s emergency response team agreed with a recommendation made by a safety audit from the New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal to hire two SROs for elementary schools within the district. NYSIR Senior Risk Control Specialist Jim Victor was on hand to discuss the recommendation with board members.
Patton said the Board of Education requested the security assessment in July, and said that NYSIR representatives spent three days in the school district in October. The results of the assessment were discussed in a community safety and security forum on Dec. 1.
When asked about the process of the NYSIR recommendations, Victor said that two SROs was “a number that seemed reasonable,” saying NYSIR’s recommendation is for the district to hire one SRO for elementary schools within city limits, and one SRO for elementary schools outside of city limits.
“Two, one for the city schools and one for outside the city schools, seemed to us to be a reasonable recommendation,” said Victor.
When asked about studies in support of SROs in elementary schools, Patton said that while he can only reference experiences in the Saratoga district, concerns of mistreatment “has never been the case.”
“We have an outstanding relationship with those three individuals who serve our school district here in Saratoga Springs,” said Patton. “But I think it’s an important conversation to continue to have that’s essential for our school district and local law enforcement to work with both the chief and the sheriff himself, that we have clear and concise definitions of roles and responsibilities of an SRO in schools.”
Trustee John Brueggeman said the district also needs to discuss adding more mental health resources, saying that Caroline Street Elementary does not have a social worker, and that none of the district’s elementary schools have school counselors.
Patton said the district has grown from one social worker to a total of ten in the past decade, but ultimately agreed with Brueggeman. Trustee Dean Kolligan said that the district has hired 17 additional mental health service providers in total in the last 10 years.
“It can’t be this or that, it’s got to be a combination of providing support at all levels,” said Patton.
Residents spoke both for and against the NYSIR recommendation during the meeting.
“For the life of me, I cannot see why anyone would not want to have police officers, such as the officers we already have, as SROs,” said resident Mark Crockett. “They’re a valuable resource, they’ve never been used in an emergency, and yet they’re still a valuable resource.”
Resident Jack Burger, who said he spent over 30 years teaching at Troy and Schuylerville High Schools, spoke in support of adding additional SROs, discussing his experiences with the SROs in those districts.
“I’ve seen what school resources officers can offer first-hand. The benefits to our school would be immense,” Burger said. “During my last 15 years working in schools, both of these schools have benefitted from these two great SROs that I have worked closely with, and have had a positive influence on our school.”
Resident Hollyday Hammond said the use of armed officers in schools “does nothing to promote the kind of environment our children and teachers need.”
“It sends a message. We need police to keep us safe because we are not safe,” said Hammond. “I’d rather the message be, we are safe because we create safety by caring about every single person in our school.”
Rebecca Lynch, another resident, said that many of the stated reasons and goals for adding SROs can be achieved by other adults instead of a police officer.
“Another person for kids to talk to. Someone to connect with the kids, to read stories in classrooms,” Lynch said. “That could be done by a social worker or a school counselor, or an aide. It doesn’t need to be done by someone wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a gun.”
The Board of Education’s next meeting will be held on Jan. 10 at Maple Avenue Middle School, according to the district website.
