At the Oct. 9 School Committee meeting, it was frustrating to hear the School Committee members vote down the idea of even discussing the possibility of an SRO (student resource officer) in the schools. To me, it is clear that five out of the seven School Committee members don’t get that an SRO isn’t about a police officer being placed in the school in case there is an “incident.”

An SRO gets to know the kids … with that, an SRO becomes familiar with the kid who is always sitting alone at lunch, recognizes the student who tends to get bullied, or learns who are the “troublemakers.” Then, they use that knowledge (and training) to give the kids what they need for help and guidance.

The goal is to intervene and hopefully prevent instances from happening in the first place. It may be as simple as sitting and chatting with that isolated child at lunch time, or the mere presence of an SRO that makes a bullied child feel safer walking the halls. It could be about building a relationship and mutual respect with the troublemaker and getting them on a better path.

For some, an SRO may be the only trusted adult they have in their life to go to. I know this because I actually reached out to an SRO officer and spoke with them. Unfortunately, our School Committee won’t even entertain the idea of an SRO, so I doubt that they’ve made any effort to learn more from our neighboring schools who have had success with one.

When I went looking for old meetings where the subject of an SRO had been discussed in the past, I did come across the Nov. 10, 2021 meeting. At that meeting, there were parents speaking during public comment begging the School Committee to do something about all the trouble that was happening in the schools. It was three years ago and things have not improved. So, the fact that the School Committee members are not willing to revisit even the idea of an SRO is not right.

Just a month ago, a high school student ended up in the emergency room after being attacked in the cafeteria in the middle of a school day.

Shame on the School Committee members for not taking the problems at the schools seriously, continuously putting off the safety of the kids, and not even giving having an SRO a chance.

Dawn Morin lives in Greenfield.