What Happened to the SRO?
NEIRAD enilno edition
Last winter, three initials caused an uproar throughout Darien High School: SRO. Short for Student Resource Officer, the prospect of an armed officer roaming the halls provoked fiery opinions all across the campus and throughout town. Even though the Board of Education approved the change for the 2011-2012 school year, the school does not have an SRO.
The SRO issue has stirred conversation since its inception, but now the tide has turned to focus why there is not one. Principal Dan Haron confirmed that this has nothing to do with opposition from the community. “The Board of Ed vote came a little late, so the police department budget could not include [funds to cover the SRO’s salary] in time for this year,” Principal Haron said. “My hope is that we will get one next year.”
Detective Mark Cappelli of the Darien Police Department also attributed the delay to budgetary issues. “The town needs to decide if the BOE is going to fund it or [if] the police will,” said Cappelli. On top of that, Cappelli said the police need “to look at staffing… to make the position possible.”
The police department “is very much in favor of the idea. I know they’re enthusiastic about it,” said Principal Haron. The department will attempt to add the SRO into next year’s budget, which it begin working on late this September. This means the earliest DHS would get an SRO would be September 2012.
When the SRO debate was originally raised, the school was shaken by students and staff discussing the provocative issue. Principal Haron said that administration “got mostly positive feedback. It wasn’t 100%, but as a general rule we got support from all constituencies, including students, staff, and parents.” Even though the idea has found a home in our minds, the soonest we will see an armed officer in our halls will be next school year. Until then, members of the DHS community will continue to go to a school that is SRO-free.
