MADISON, WI (Wisconsin Radio Network-WSAU) – Another reversal, on the presence of police officers in Madison schools. The school board president now favors a phase-out of school resource officers.
Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education President Gloria Reyes is recommending a “strategy of options to remove School Resource Officers” from the district’s four main high schools. The former Madison police officer voted with the majority of the school board to extend the district’s contract with the Madison Police Department. Now Reyes is calling for creation of a sub-committee to look at what the district’s safety and security strategy could look like without SROs.
The union representing district teachers had already reversed its position, calling for SRO’s to be replaced with more school support staff. The union says SRO’s should be removed only after all counseling and mental health positions within the district are filled.