Sutton Parker
COLUMBIO Mo. KMIZ
The Columbia City Council is set to vote on an agreement between the city and Columbia Public Schools that would add 5 more school resource officers to the district.
According to a Council memo, the agreement would provide for the assignment of 5 Columbia Police Department School Resource Officers to Columbia Public Schools during the regular school year and summer school session.
The addition would bring the total count of SROs in the district to 9.
Among the proposed 5 officers, 2 would be stationed at Hickman High School, 1 at Rock Bridge High School, and the other 2 at Battle High School.
The agreement also outlines that CPS will reimburse the city for 75 percent of the officer’s salary and benefit costs.
CPS Safety and Security Director Kenneth Gregory said the officers are invaluable to the district.
“The school resource officers. Just like the regular staff, the relationships that they build with the kids, is unbelievable, and there’s also, of course, the safety aspect of having the officers there.” Gregory said. “It’s a deterrent. It makes the staff and students feel safer.”
Adding that the district has been asking the city for additional officers for a while.
“The kids, town or the kids that are coming to school. So, whatever issues they may have. Outside of school,” Gregory said. “Those officers help make it a safe space inside the school and let them know that, ‘Hey, this is a safe place.'”
Gregory said that no day for the officers is ever the same.
“Each school is almost like a city unto itself, so you know you have maybe an accident in the parking lot, you will have someone lose something, or something was taken, some trespassers come on the campus during the school day,” he said.
When it comes to how teachers feel, CMNEA chapter president and teacher at Highkman High School, Noelle Gilzow, says resource officers deal with unhoused people frequently.
“So we’ve had instances where unhoused people have made it into the building or, are using the stadium area as a place to camp, and so sometimes the SROs have to kind of help disperse individuals like that,” Gilzow said.
But adds that the potential addition of new offices comes with a mixed response from teachers.
“In some schools, we see SROs who are working really hard to build positive relationships with students. In other schools, there have been less positive interactions, and then there are people across the spectrum who think that putting police in schools is wrong,” Gilzow said.
Gilzow noted that while she does not believe officers act out of malice, physical interventions during conflicts can sometimes escalate.
“I think there have been situations where, like, a fight broke out and there was just rougher handling of students to prevent further injury from the fight than would be preferred, I don’t think it was anything targeted or anything, It was just unfortunate,” Gilzow said.
Gilzow added that broader societal issues also shape how students view officers in their schools.
“The fact is that some students don’t get first see police officers as helpful, because of what’s happened in society, there’s some anxiety and angst around police officers among some communities,” Gilzow said.
Because of those community dynamics, Gilzow emphasized that selecting the right officers for each school is crucial.
“I think it is critically important that the placement of those officers into schools really be sensitive to how well the individual relates to the community that it’s, the school belongs to,” Gilzow said.
ABC 17 News reached out to all CPS board members for comment on the potential addition of SROs to the district.
Betsy Peters was the only one who got back to us and said that she is happy with the agreement.
District officials say the goal is to have 2 full-time officers on every high school campus.
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