By Steven Keller
The proposed new HCPSS School Resource Officer (SRO) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) changes the SRO program term from 5 years to 1 year, requiring annual renewal of the MOU (on page 11).
This change may seem benign, but when examined carefully, it is a deceptively strategic modification that will make the topic of SROs in schools a political battle every year, particularly during election years.
Those who wish to see SROs completely removed from HCPSS schools are patient and willing to incrementally “move the needle” with subtle but important changes like this one that inch them closer to their goal. As early as 2023, if/when another anti-SRO BOE candidate is elected in 2022 to support the current three anti-SRO board members (Mallo, Mosley, Watts), the MOU will fail to be renewed and SROs will be again be kept out of HCPSS schools indefinitely. Another likely possibility in the meantime is that anti-SRO activists & board members will exploit this annual renewal to hold the SRO MOU hostage each year and call for ever increasingly significant policy changes that all but destroy the program.
Longer MOU timeframes offer stability for all parties involved and decrease the frequent, unconstructive politicization of the services/agreements that they cover.
The term length for the HCPSS SRO MOU should be at least 3-5 years and should not be an annual requirement.
The full proposed new HCPSS SRO MOU can be read here.
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