APS and School Resource Officers

During the 2020-21 school year, APS reviewed and modified its relationship with the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) and School Resource Officers (SROs). Below is background on the collaborative community engagement process that informed the School Board’s decision to remove SROs, and on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that details the relationship between APS and ACPD.

For information about current safety protocols in schools, please visit the Health & Safety section.

APS & ACPD Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

The School and Law Enforcement Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been finalized and available for the community to read it. The purpose of the updated MOU is to redefine and reimagine the relationship between APS and ACPD. Following the decision to remove School Resource Officers (SROs) from all schools at the School Board Meeting on June 24, 2021, staff have been working with ACPD to update the MOU that was last updated in 2018.

The goals of the MOU are as follows:

Reduce student involvement in the criminal justice system by having student disciplinary issues handled within the school building by school administrators;
Protect student rights afforded to them legally under all federal, state, and local laws;
Formally detail the specific situations as referenced in the Code of Virginia when students are to be referred to law enforcement; and
Control access to student information as mandated by FERPA.

Staff will receive professional learning based on the updated MOU and new materials for the community are available on the School Climate and Culture webpage to ensure students know their constitutional rights when engaging with law enforcement.

View the School & Law Enforcement MOU

Overview

APS is reviewing our school division’s relationship and operations with School Resource Officers (SROs), including the review and monitor of the APS Memorandum of Understanding with Arlington County Police Department (ACPD). In response to concerns expressed at the national and local levels, APS will gather community feedback, as well as recommendations from stakeholders to the School Board and Superintendent, on the future of this relationship. A Work Group has been formed to work with APS staff in this process during the 2020-21 school year and a recommendation for monitoring will be presented to the School Board in June 2021.The APS School Resource Officer (SRO) Work Group hosted a virtual community engagement session on Jan. 13, 2021, which was an opportunity for the community to provide feedback and recommendations going forward on the relationship between APS and the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD). To watch this event, visit Livestream.

School Board Charge

The Arlington Public Schools and School Resource Officers Work Group is being created by the School Board and Superintendent to primarily address the community concerns expressed to the School Board and Superintendent regarding the relationship and the operations that Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) have with Arlington Public Schools (APS). The work of the Work Group will also serve to meet the requirement to review the memorandum of understanding with our local law enforcement and ensure opportunity for community input during the review per VA Code § 22.1-280.2:3.

View the Full School Board Charge

SRO Working Group Members

APS has formed a Working Group with 48 members including APS students, parents, staff, advisory council representatives, community members, and Arlington County Police, which was presented to the School Board on Dec. 3, 2020. It will be facilitated by an external facilitator.

APS has sought stakeholders who are themselves involved in multiple groups to ensure strong representation from a variety of perspectives within the Work Group. Participants will be expected to provide information and gain feedback from their various organizations.

Additionally, APS has formed a Youth Advisory Council (YAC) to include all student applicants so current APS students have a strong voice in the Work Group. This separate, but connected group, provides a safe place for youth conversation and allows the group to inform the adult working group about the student perspective.

All community members will be invited to share comments at a Public Hearing in January and can share comments and questions throughout this process with staff leading this review by writing to engage@apsva.us.

MEMBER NAME		ROLE	MEMBER NAME		ROLE
Peter	Anderson	Teacher	Heba	Mahmoud	Parent/Guardian
Uyanga	Batsukh	Parent/Guardian	Michelle	Marrero	Teacher
Jennifer	Bauer	Parent/Guardian	Elizabeth	McHugh	Parent/Guardian
Michelle	Best	Parent/Guardian	Scott	McKeown	Administrator
Lauren	Brice	Community/Other	Anita	McLinton	Parent/Guardian
Monique	Brown-Bryant	Parent/Guardian	Kathleen	McSweeney	Community/Other
Tonya	Chapman	Community/Other	Vladimir	Olic	Parent/Guardian
Mike	Chick	Parent/Guardian	Lisa	Pellegrino	Teacher
Caitlin	Davies	Teacher	Kolleena	Perry	Teacher
Katie	Deal	Parent/Guardian	Aura	Rojas	Parent/Guardian
Melisa	Esposti	Parent/Guardian	Maggie	Slye	Parent/Guardian
Elizabeth	Fabrizio	Parent/Guardian	Sharon	Solorzano	Teacher
Catherine	Han	Administrator	Ronda	Stewart	Parent/Guardian
Endia	Holmes	Community/Other	Tauna	Szymanski	Parent/Guardian
Carolyn	Jackson	Administrator	Gabriela	Uro	Community/Other
Daryl	Johnson	Administrator	Ana Sofia	Uro de Leon	Community/Other
Sherrice	Kerns	Parent/Guardian	Janeth	Valenzuela	Community/Other
Eleanor	Lewis	Teacher	Symone	Walker	Parent/Guardian
Eric	Lotke	Community/Other	Jenny	York	Teacher
Elaine	Maag	Parent/Guardian	James	Younger	Community/Other

SRO Working Group Meetings

All of the SRO Working Group meetings were recorded and are available to view online. Only the general session of each meeting is available to view because the individual breakout sessions were not recorded.

SRO Review Process Timeline

Date	Activity
Sept. 3, 2020	School Board Work Session on APS and School Resource Officers (Video \| Presentation)
Sept. 24, 2020	School Board Meeting Information Item: SRO Working Group Charge (View Recording)
Oct. 8, 2020	School Board Meeting Action Item: SRO Working Group Charge (View Recording)
Oct. 9, 2020	News Release: School Board Approves School Resource Officer Work Group ChargeNews Release: APS and School Resource Officer Work Group Seeks Committee Members
Oct. 9 – Nov. 10, 2020	SRO Working Group Application Timeframe
Dec. 9, 2020	SRO Working Group & Youth Advisory Council Convene First Meeting
Jan. 13, 2021	SRO Work Group Community Engagement Session #1 (View Recording)
Jan.- May 2021	Monthly meetings for Work Group
April 26, 2021	SRO Work Group Community Engagement Session #1 (View Recording)
June 3, 2021	SRO Working Group & Superintendent Recommendations Presented to the School Board (View Recording)
June 24, 2021	School Board Approves Removal of SROs from Schools (View Recording)
August 30, 2021	Start of the MOU Development Process
Nov. 1, 2021	Final Draft of the MOU Posted for 15-Day Public Comment Period
March 10, 2022	MOU Finalized (View MOU)

SRO Review Final Recommendations

June 4, 2021 – Superintendent’s Recommendations
June 4, 2021 – SRO Work Group’s Recommendations

Information Resources

For additional information or questions on the SRO Review Process, please contact Engage with APS! at engage@apsva.us.