Saratoga Springs School Board election is upon us

The Saratoga Springs School Board election is upon us. While issues in most school board elections are a new pool or renovating a library the election for the Saratoga Springs School District this year is about the safety of our children. In question is the position taken by some current board members to change the status of school security grounds monitors from armed to unarmed. The monitors are current or former police officers … trained and experienced professionals. Their focus is school security. A School Resource Officer (SRO) as an actual police officer assigned to a school or school district, often covering several schools or even the entire school district. Their duties include presenting training and providing some positive interaction with students. The primary duty of SROs is not school security. The priority of the monitors in the Saratoga Springs District is to provide security. They have done this in a effective professional manner for years. Why then, in this era of school violence, does the Saratoga Springs Board decide to unarm what is arguably the most effective school security measure in our area? Politics. They chose to be political and ignore the facts and expert opinion.

This election is more important than any other school board election in memory. It is about the safety and the lives of our children. That anyone in a position of responsibility would vote to make our schools, indeed our children, less safe in our dangerous world is unconscionable. As a veteran of 37 years in law enforcement and as a security consultant I believe that the time has come. Don’t wait until you have to ask yourself what more could have been done. Do it now. Vote for Shaun Wiggins, Ed Cubanski and Dean Kolligan for safer schools.

John Neeley Saratoga Springs