Worthington votes to put officers in high schools
After a second meeting filled with contentious debate, the Worthington Board of Education on Monday night voted 3-2 for adding school resource officers to the district’s two high schools.
School resource officers, or SROs, are uniformed police officers who are permanently stationed in one or more of a district’s school buildings during the school year, under an agreement between the school district and the law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction.
Thomas Worthington High School will hire a Worthington police officer and Worthington Kilbourne High School will hire a Columbus officer.
A half-dozen parents told the board they feared that typical kid behavior could land a student in the juvenile justice system, especially among groups such as minority students and those with developmental disabilities. Several parents advocated hiring other professionals such as counselors and nurses to help troubled kids.
“Students in policed schools are up to five times more likely to be charged with disorderly conduct,” said Meagan Kane, a mother of two and a nurse practitioner who works in child and adolescent mental health. She was referring to a 2009 University of Tennessee study. A new concern, she said, is about what could happen with undocumented students who encounter police in the school.
But Worthington teachers think a police presence could help, said Nancy Smith, who teaches math at Worthington Kilbourne High School.
“Earlier this year, I had to break up a fight between two students,” Smith said. “Teachers are being asked to do so much. We cannot ask them to take on more responsibility.”
When it came time for the board to vote, the debate went around and around, with members Jennifer Best, Sam Shim and President Julie Keegan saying they were in favor and Charlie Wilson and Nikki Hudson speaking against.
Of 16 public school districts located primarily in Franklin County, only Bexley, Grandview Heights, Hamilton Local and Worthington schools do not employ officers.