Community Advisory Council

Assisting with SRO program review

Poudre School District's Community Advisory Council (CAC) is assisting the district with reviewing the School Resource Officer (SRO) program to help determine if the program will continue in PSD schools. 

In spring of 2020, members of PSD communities expressed concerns about the presence of school resource officers in PSD's schools. Concerns included but weren’t limited to the existence of a school-to-prison pipeline and the lifelong impact it has on some students in our schools, particularly students of color. The PSD Board of Education directed the school district to conduct a comprehensive review of the issue to determine whether to continue the SRO program.

The CAC, made up of community and PSD representatives, is an important part of the district's comprehensive review, which includes community engagement, data analysis, feedback and recommendations to the board.
 

Board of Education approves 2021-22 SRO contracts, SOPs

On June 29, the PSD Board of Education voted to approve 2021-22 school year updated school resource officer standard operating procedures and agreements with the district’s contracted law enforcement agencies: Fort Collins Police Services, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office and Timnath Police Department.

The standard operating procedures (SOPs) provide direction to the district and agencies to ensure shared understanding of the role of SROs. The agreements and SOPs were revised with PSD’s contracted law enforcement agencies and input from the Community Advisory Council and stakeholders.

For more information about the SRO program and 2021-22 evaluation plan, please visit the School Resource Officer Program web page.

May 11, 2021, board meeting

At the May 11 meeting, the PSD Board of Education voted to direct district staff to continue the SRO program in PSD schools. As part of this decision, staff were asked to draft agreements between the district and the three law enforcement agencies – Fort Collins Police Services, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office and Timnath Police Department – that employ the SROs who serve PSD schools. Pending successful negotiations with the three contracted law enforcement agencies, a final version of the contracts will go back to the Board of Education for its review at a future meeting. Directors will ultimately vote on whether to approve the agreements, which would be in place for the 2021-22 school year.

The Board of Education also gave staff directions to update the Standard Operating Procedures, or SOPs, that outline the scope of work of a school resource officer in PSD schools. The board indicated that it wants staff to integrate feedback from the Community Advisory Council’s final report and recommendations to the board, among other community and board input, into the contracts and/or SOPs, where appropriate. SOPs will be finalized prior to the start of the 2021-22 school year. 
 

Spring 2021 CAC recommendations to the board 

• Read the CAC’s final report to the board >> 
• Watch the April 27 presentation to the board on PSD TV YouTube >> 

At its April 27 meeting, the Board of Education was presented with the CAC’s recommendations regarding SROs. Throughout 2020 and 2021, the CAC reviewed data, engaged in discussions and ultimately made recommendations to the board, which is determining the future of the SRO program and whether to renew PSD's contracts with the three law enforcement agencies that employ the district's current SROs. 

The CAC explored alternative models and best practices, reviewed data and community input (including the spring 2021 PSD SRO survey), tested for consensus among the group (the CAC did come to consensus on 50 but not all items) and finalized recommendations. 

The Civic Canopy, a Denver-based outside facilitation firm that engages groups around complex issues, worked with the CAC for this months-long process. 

The CAC was asked to determine what role, if any, SROs should play in the pursuit of a shared vision of safety in PSD. The council's comprehensive vision of safety includes supportive school cultures, direct prevention, preparedness and response, and recovery and accountability. 

The CAC developed principles to guide when law enforcement should be used in schools and only in specific circumstances. More information is in the final report linked below. 

The council also agreed when it is (e.g. emergency response to violence inside schools) and is not acceptable (e.g. nonviolent response in schools) for law enforcement to be in schools. More information is in the final report linked below.  

Recommendations 

Majority opinion: Eleven CAC members believe the role of law enforcement, agreed to in the final CAC report, can be implemented without SROs’ presence in schools. They recommend that PSD shift to a response model where law enforcement officers are not embedded on campuses. One option for exploration is for officers to fulfill the roles outlined in the CAC report but act more as liaisons to schools; they would be assigned to patrol areas adjacent to their designated schools to reduce response time. 

Dissenting opinion: Four CAC members felt strongly that SROs should remain embedded in schools, citing response time in the case of threats of violence and the hope that SRO presence deters criminal or violent behavior. They felt that new Standard Operating Procedures, or SOPs, for SROs is a step in the right direction and that continued data gathering to inform new practices is essential. They agree the disproportionality of Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) students being referred to law enforcement is a large concern. 
 

Next steps in the process  

• No decision about the program or PSD’s contracts with law enforcement agencies has been made, as of April 2021.  
• The next step in the process is a May 11 Board of Education meeting. Board meeting agendas and meeting information are available here >> 

SRO FAQs, CAC tasks, meetings and committee members