Proposed legislation for School Resource Officers in all DE schools

DELAWARE – In Delaware, there’s a push for a new bill calling for more school resource officers.

“We don’t want our children to be fearful, we don’t want our parents to be fearful when they go to school,” Representative Bryan Shupe said.

In order to minimize this fear, Delaware State Representative Bryan Shupe is proposing legislation to add School Resource Officers or SROs to more schools across the First State.

Former SRO Joey Melvin called it a rewarding experience. “Being a mentor to someone that needs that positive influence, guiding them down the right path prior to them making a mistake, understanding and learning about the teenage brain,” Joey Melvin, Former Milford and Georgetown SRO, and Region 3 Director for the National Association of School Resource Officers said.

“A person for the children to look up to, they talk to the kids not only about what they’re doing in schools but in their community, and they’re able to look up to this adult as someone who understands them as someone who they can talk to about things going on in their own community, things that are related to drugs and alcohol and violence and things that maybe they won’t feel comfortable reaching out to their parents or teachers, it’s really a great atmosphere for these SRO’s to get involved and really talk with these kids about the realities that’s going on on the ground level and the stresses, and the challenges they’re dealing with everyday outside of school,” Rep. Shupe explains.

Representative Shupe says funding has been poured into schools across the nation, following the Uvalde school shooting, yet it was only on a one-time basis. However, with this bill, he’s proposing ongoing funding to support SROs. “70% through the state of Delaware, 30% through the local school district, and have it on an annual basis. Right now SROs are funded locally 100%,” Rep. Shupe said.

That is also the average split for teachers across the state. Melvin agrees that SROs are needed because it changes the relationship between police and students, for the better. “Really being able to change that paradigm of trust, and that’s really what it was, you were able to go in there and have a deep appreciation not just in general but very specific to the community,” Melvin said.

Representative Shupe emphasized that some people may only interact with police during emergencies. Melvin says being an SRO takes a special kind of person. “They have to be properly selected and then properly trained, being very transparent we can’t just take any person off the street and place them into a school, and expect them to be successful,” Melvin said.

Later this week, Representative Shupe will be announcing the sponsors for the bill. Next week the legislation will be presented to the education committee in the house.

Also, it’s important to note that Representative Shupe added an amendment to the school safety funding to make it annual and it was shot down. However, he hopes that people see there is a need for more safety in schools to strengthen these relationships.