Some boards consider armed personnel

Supt.: Best SROs are students' confidants


On Board Online • April 2, 2018

By Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer

Should someone in school have a gun?

Where the question has arisen, it has led to others: Who? What kind of gun? How much training should be required?

At least two Long Island school districts, Miller Place and Hauppauge, have heard those questions debated at public forums. Other questions asked by parents during school board meetings in the wake of the Parkland, Fla. school shooting:

  • Would armed personnel serve as a deterrent to would-be attackers, or would they heighten the risk for students and staff?
  • What kind of sidearm would be sufficient protection against a military-style semi-automatic rifle?
  • What level of interaction with students is desired?

Miller Place and Hauppauge are planning to hire private armed guards. Meanwhile, the New York State Sheriffs Association has called on state lawmakers to provide funding for at least one armed police officer with specialized training - called a school resource officer - in every school in the state. A federal program providing money for SROs has expired, but could be renewed under a new federal budget that includes $75 million for school safety grants.

On March 20, an armed school resource officer confronted a student gunman in a Maryland school hallway. The gunman shot himself after having wounded two students.

Despite that dramatic event, school officials say SROs' value mostly lies in their everyday role as gatherers of intelligence. Good SROs build relationships with students who feel comfortable sharing information about how students are behaving and what they are talking about, according to Superintendent Michael Bauman of the rural Newfane Central School District in Niagara County.

"The value of a school resource officer has nothing to do with the gun he wears on his hip," said Bauman, who has worked with SROs in several school districts.

"Not all officers are suited to working in schools," he added. "It takes a very special person to work as a school resource officer."




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