Bill Introduced in Oregon Legislature to Ban School Resource Officers

Last month, Senate Bill 238 was quietly and anonymously introduced by the Senate Interim Committee on Education to ban School Resource Officers statewide. However, the bill goes farther than banning just SROs:

(4) A district school board may not:
(a) Approve a contract or other agreement that provides for members of a law enforcement agency to be assigned to the schools of the school district;
(b) Authorize its superintendent or the superintendent’s designee to enter into a contract or other agreement that provides for members of a law enforcement agency to be assigned to the schools of the school district; or
(c) Establish a law enforcement agency or employ law enforcement personnel

If passed, law enforcement will be effectively banned from our schools in any capacity, making students more vulnerable to school shootings and other violence.

The topic of SROs has been a hot-button issue in our community since last year. In the Salem-Keizer School District, a student-led task force recently researched the topic and concluded the district should keep SROs, with reforms. 2020 saw a competitive county commission race where the issue of SROs played a significant part. In the end, Republican Danielle Bethell soundly defeated Democrat Ashley Carson Cottingham, who is an outspoken opponent of SROs. Carson Cottingham went so far to say “SROs are the embodiment of systemic racism….”

This bill is just the latest example of elements in the Oregon Legislature working to subvert the decision-making of our community by passing one-size-fits-all policies statewide. Last year, Rep. Paul Evans threatened to pack the Salem-Keizer School Board with Kate Brown appointees because he disagreed with one vote of the school board. The proposal was especially bizarre because it targeted just this one school district and it was proposed by a member of the legislature who does not even live in the school district.

Other communities may decide to remove SROs. That is their choice. That is not the choice of Marion+Polk Counties.