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After a couple weeks of speculation on Sudbury social media, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Superintendent Andrew Stephens provided an update on the school resource officer (SRO) program.
With rumors swirling that the high school’s school resource officer was no longer in the school, Stephens stated plainly:
“We have not lost our SRO. We just don’t have her as often as we had.”
Stephens emphasized that the SRO is still very attentive to any situations or cases where the education world and the legal world mix:
“We’ve had a number of different individual cases and such, and she’s right there. The physical presence in the building is less than we normally have full-time. I would love to have it be full time. She’s a tremendous resource, but that’s just simply not possible at this time.” (1:04:00)
Stephens explained that a staffing shortage in the Sudbury Police Department has required the SRO to fill in on patrol, and required the SRO to balance time across all the school buildings in Sudbury. That significantly reduces time spent in the building, which raised school safety concerns for members of the committee.
The committee discussed that they value and appreciate the SRO program for a variety of benefits ranging from school safety to mental health and mentorship for students.
They agreed to draft a letter to the Sudbury Select Board and Town Manager, but the exact angle they will take remains unclear. Some members wanted to call on the Sudbury Select Board and Town Manager to “adequately staff” the police department. Others wanted to stay more in the school committee’s lane and call for the Town of Sudbury to fulfill it’s obligation under the memorandum of understanding that establishes the SRO relationship between the Sudbury Police Department and Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.
The general consensus seemed to be that they wanted to be careful with their tone and get an understanding of the Town’s plan to sort out the staffing challenges in the police department.
Police staffing shortages are a nationwide issue, including in Massachusetts. Last year, the State Police lost half of their recruits during training, but the shortages trace back several years. Police departments across the state have cited difficulty recruiting and retaining officers, a wave of resignations and retirements after the Covid-19 pandemic, among several other issues.
As for next steps with the Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee – they assigned member Maura Carty the task of drafting a letter and the committee will review it at their next meeting.