The Arlington Heights School District 25 board is considering plans to introduce additional school resource officers into the middle schools during the 2023-2024 school year as a way to expand their partnership with the Arlington Heights Police Department, according to officials at a recent school board meeting.
The move would also have an aim to expand the positive relationship-building and support current SROs provide to students, staff and the community, SD95 officials said.
At a board meeting last month, Superintendent Lori Bein presented research on the impact of school resource officers after board members had requested the information at the May board meeting.
She also made a recommendation that the board consider adding a total of one full-time school resource officer at each of the district’s middle schools at a district cost of $222,000. Board and community members shared their thoughts on the plan.
“We’re not talking about SROs because we have any increase in negative student behavior or a rise in criminal activities in schools,” Bein told the board at the July 11 meeting. “Nor have we brought this to you to prepare for a critical incident. We’re talking about expanding on our partnership with the Arlington Heights Police Department, relationship building, positive mentoring, impact and service to the community.”
Currently, two school resource officers serve the district’s nine schools, Bein said, in addition to working at 10 other Arlington Heights schools and four other nearby schools. Most of their time in SD25 is spent at Thomas and South middle schools where each school serves more than 900 students, officials explained.
In addition to their roles as SROs, Bein said officers also provide student safety lessons, train staff and often participate in district extracurricular activities. The salaries and benefits of these two officers are paid by the village of Arlington Heights.
The idea to expand the school resource officers first came at the request of the police department, Bein said, which wants to expand its service in the community. Forming such partnerships with other agencies in the community is one of the strategic goals of the district.
She said the second reason administrators brought the idea to the board is to expand on the positive relationship-building and support the current SROs have provided to students, families and staff for the last couple of decades.
“I do want to be realistic that there are members in our community who have strong opinions about this topic,” Bein said. “They’re looking through a lens of excessive discipline on marginalized students or that we need to be proactive in case of a critical incident, but that is not the reason we brought this to the board.”
She also emphasized that SROs do not get involved in student discipline — administrators and staff are charged with handling that.
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.
