Demand #3

The Multi-Stakeholder Group has completed their final report to the community about their recommendations to the board about school safety models and the role of the School Resource Officer (SRO).

As stated in the MSG's report, "After extensive and careful review of concerns and perspectives from various public participation fora, school and SRO practices and policies, interviews with students, teachers and community members, as well as a literature review on school safety models and data nationally, in Vermont and in Winooski, the group recommends shifting the SRO model to a combination of a District Liaison Officer (DLO) model with a school safety coach (SSC)."

Superintendent McMannon formally notified the City of Winooski that the WSD would like to retain the services of the SRO for the upcoming 2022-23 school year. Between now and June 30, 2023, our district will continue to work with everyone involved to make the following improvements:

• Develop better governance and accountability mechanisms to review and understand the SRO’s interventions at school and referrals to law enforcement.

• Improve data collection about disciplinary incidents of all kinds regardless of SRO’s involvement and ensure that such data includes demographic data such as race and gender.

In his memo, Superintendent McMannon affirms the district's commitment to continuing a community consultation process and implementing an updated school safety and security model for the 2023-24 school year that continues to provide a high level of school safety and security and reduces the unscheduled amount of time an armed officer spends on the school campus during regular school hours.

Julian Portilla and members of the multi-stakeholder committee provided an update and presented their recommendations to the School Board. The committee met eight times to interview community members, review data and models, and engage in conversation around school safety. Their final recommendation is that the school resource officer will transition to a combination of a Student Safety Coach and District Liaison Officer. They will not be house at the school, but available to come to the school if needed. The final report can be viewed here. It was shared with the superintendent who will make a decision based on the recommendations.

The Winooski School Board accepted a proposal from Julian Portilla to form a multi-stakeholder group that will research school safety models and present recommendations to the Superintendent by November 2021. Click here for more details about the proposed plan. You can also learn more about Julian Portilla through his CV here.

At its Special Meeting on April 7th, the WSD School Board voted 4-1 to retain the district's SRO program through the 2021-22 school year. The Board also approved the commission of a multi-stakeholder committee to examine the district's SRO program and research school safety models. The multi-stakeholder committee will be required to have a report and recommendations ready by mid-November 2021 to guide a path forward. The Board will discuss the roles, responsibilities, and tasks of the new multi-stakeholder committee at its next regular meeting on April 14th at 6:30pm. The Zoom link is here.

For more information about SROs in schools, please review this memo from WSD Board Member Steven Berbeco and visit our website.