Schools chief appeals for SRO funding

Would offer protection, mentorship, resources, appreciation of police

PORTLAND — Superintendent of Schools Philip B. O’Reilly will propose adding a school resource officer in the upcoming budget.

O’Reilly has presented the proposal to the Board of Education and has held preliminary discussion with First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield about the plan. School resource officers are full-time police officers assigned to a school or schools. In addition to offering protection for staff and students, SROs can serve as a means for students to better understand and appreciate the role of the police in society.

In some cases, they also act as mentors to students and as resource for students, staff and teachers on a variety of topics.

“I came to this decision to bring to the board out of concern, because numerous people have asked me to consider this, and because many students expressed the desire to have an armed officer in the building,” O’Reilly explained in an email. “This is a Board of Education matter, both as (a matter of) policy and in a practical sense.”

Board members “are the people who are ultimately charged with making this decision,” he said.

O’Reilly said he will explore the issue in detail with Bransfield and Capt. Ron Milardo, the police department’s highest-ranking officer.

Students at the high school reacted in a positive and non-political manner following the shooting at Marjorie Stillman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Feb. 14.

With the backing of both O’Reilly and Principal Kathryn Lawson, Portland students held a vigil in support of the Marjorie Stillman Douglas community during which the names of each of the 17 victims of the shooting were read aloud.

Portland was one of the first communities that endured a school shooting. In December 1985, a middle school student armed with a handgun shot and killed a school employee and wounded the school principal and school secretary.

The surge in school shootings over the past several years has affected O’Reilly, as it has most professional educators.

In the wake of the Parkland shooting, he said he had become an educator to help mold young people and expand their horizons, but now increasingly has found himself focusing on steps to increase school security.

Board of Education Chairwoman MaryAnne Rode said the proposal is a sad commentary on the times in which educators now must operate. At the same time, Rode praised the cooperation the school department has received from the police, and, in particular, from

Officer Paul Liseo.

She said police have made it a point to be visible before and after school and have readily agreed to any number of requests from the school administration.

“I can’t say enough about the cooperation we receive from the police,” she said.

Bransfield said O’Reilly had mentioned his intention to include the officer in his budget, and she is looking forward to working with him to flesh out the proposal.

An aide to Bransfield said Thursday the first selectwoman, Milardo and O’Reilly are working to coordinate their calendars so they can sit down together to discuss the issue in order to develop the proposal.

O'Reilly