Changes coming to school resource officer program at Alexandria Public Schools
School resource officers are coming back to Alexandria Public Schools, but officials say this time, things will look different.
The SRO program was removed earlier in the year, a move that was met by pushback from parents, staff and government officials.
READ MORE: Some Alexandria parents question school safety without resource officers on campus
Several ACPS leaders gave a presentation on the status of the program at a meeting on Thursday night.
Two SRO's will be at Alexandria High School's King Street campus and one will be at the Minnie Howard campus.
There will also be one SRO at both Francis Hammond and George Washington Middle School.
However, the presentation left some board members with questions about the program's future since SRO's were only temporarily reinstated through the end of the school year.
READ MORE: Alexandria city council temporarily reinstates school resource officers
"We have to sit down with council and have a real discussion about what the vision for police education relations looks like in Alexandria," says school board member Christopher Suarez.
SRO's were removed in May while most students were still doing virtual learning. However, this caused concern for parents and school officials after incidents of violence at some schools this year.
One community member FOX 5 spoke to says he supports SRO's in schools but feels the school system needs to add extra security to keep everyone safe.
"Just install the metal detectors," says Ricardo Roberts. "They’re objective. I don’t care what color you are - bring a knife, gun - 'Hey, come see me.'"
More details will be given about the proposed revisions for the SRO program at the next school board meeting.