LINK TO:   http://www.improvingourschools.blogspot.com/2016/04/school-resource...

   Over the past few years, a number of YouTube clips have shown violent interactions between students and School Resource Officers (SROs), school-based police officers, or school security staff.  Despite the fact that there are more than 43,000 SROs or school-based police officers, and an additional 39,000 security guards, working in our country’s 84,000 public schools:

   * Only 12 states have laws that specify training requirements for school security staff who are assigned or deployed to schools;

   * Few of these staff have any training in education, child and adolescent psychology, cultural sensitivity and understanding, and student disabilities and mental health;

   * Police academies spend 1% or less of their total training hours on juvenile justice issues; and

   * Most of the training in these areas are voluntary.

   As most of the security officers who work in schools come from community-based law enforcement backgrounds, their training, perspectives, and interactions relate more to criminals than to growing and maturing students.

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   The result?  In the presence of these school security staff, more students across our country are referred to law enforcement at earlier ages, these students are becoming involved in the juvenile justice system more often, and a disproportionate number of students of color and those with disabilities are being punished, restrained, and arrested.

   This last outcome parallels the disproportionality data- - once again, from across the country- - relative to teacher referrals to the office for discipline and administrator decisions on student suspensions and expulsions.

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   Given these situations, this Blog sounds a national and state call to action.

   The recently reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requires states to develop plans on how they will reduce bullying and harassment, student restraints and seclusions, and student suspensions and expulsions- - all of which disproportionately affect students of color and with disabilities.

   This Blog recommends that every state department of education include an SRO, school-based police, and school security professional component in their ESEA-required bullying and harassment, student restraints and seclusions, and student suspension and expulsion plans.

   The Blog describes specific employment and continuing employment criteria for all school security professionals that should be in these plans.  It then discusses critical field-based principles and practices.

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   When properly trained and integrated into a district or school’s positive and preventive discipline, behavior management, and student self-management system, school security staff are important additional resources that help keep students, staff, and schools safe, positive, and secure.  At the same time, their primary job is to keep schools safe from threats, and not to become involved in routine student discipline situations.

   We need to remember that these professionals are working in schools.  They need to understand and conform to the culture of the school and our educational processes. 

   What do you think?

LINK TO:   http://www.improvingourschools.blogspot.com/2016/04/school-resource...