West Ada to add armed police officers at elementaries, require teachers to lock doors
Armed school resource officers will begin working in West Ada’s elementary schools this school year.
The West Ada school board on Monday approved an agreement with the city of Meridian to add six school resource officers — sworn members of local law enforcement who work in schools — to primarily serve in Meridian elementary schools across the district. The Ada County Sheriff’s Office also committed to adding an additional SRO, Deputy Superintendent Nick Smith said during the Monday meeting.
In previous years, SROs predominately served middle and high schools in the district, spokesperson Greg Wilson said. SROs play a “critical role” in both safety and prevention in schools, he said.
Meridian Mayor Robert Simison proposed adding more SROs to West Ada elementary schools in his State of the City address in June. During his speech, the mayor touched on the mass shooting in May at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where a lone gunman killed 19 students and two teachers.
“In order to keep all of our students as safe as possible, I’m proposing we hire six school resource officers for assignment at West Ada elementary schools in Meridian,” Simison said during his address. “These additional officers will allow our current SROs to stay focused on their efforts in high schools and middle schools while bringing needed resources to our most vulnerable group.”
Three SROs from the Meridian Police Department will start the year at the district’s elementary schools, with a fourth monitoring the District Support Center and two nearby high schools. The two additional SROs will start after Christmas due to staffing, said Meridian Police Lt. Shawn Harper.
“This was a big lift for us,” Harper said. “But it’s something I think the community expects.”
The total cost to the district for the SROs provided by the city of Meridian will be $778,575 over the course of the school year, according to the agreement. The funding for existing SROs is an even split between West Ada and the Meridian Police Department, Wilson said. For the additional six SROs, the district will cover 40% of the cost, while the Meridian Police Department will pay the remaining 60%, Wilson told the Idaho Statesman.
District to require classrooms remain locked
This school year, the district also will require that all classrooms remain locked during instructional hours. Spaces such as main offices, counselor offices and libraries will be open unless they are being used as classroom space.
Smith said the district worked with principals to address any doors that didn’t shut or classrooms where the locks weren’t working properly. The district will make accommodations in situations where closing and locking the doors would disrupt the “educational learning process,” Smith said. That could include certain career technical education programs.
Harper acknowledged that requiring teachers to lock their doors is a “big change” that will take some adjustment, but it’s something that other districts across the country already do.
“Through the history of active threats in a school environment, a locked classroom door has never been breached,” he said.
School board trustee Rene Ozuna asked how the district will make sure that the locked doors don’t create more fear for kids.
“I’ve heard from from several parents, mostly of younger kids, that they’re worried about talking about these locked doors is actually going to make them feel less safe,” she said.
Smith, the deputy superintendent, said he’s worked in a school where doors were locked, and there were no major concerns. A portion of West Ada teachers said they already close and lock their doors during instructional time, he added.
“Kids just go on about their day. The locked doors didn’t seem to impact them at all,” Smith said.
It’s important to explain to kids why teachers and schools are implementing these measures — and that is to keep kids even safer than they already are, Harper said.
“I think West Ada is in a very good place. We have very safe schools,” he said. “We continue to push forward with a good school safety culture, which is really where it starts because if our kids are safe, and our teachers feel safe, then the environment is going to be perfect for learning.”
