Delaware parents outraged after Democrats kill SRO bill in committee

DOVER, Del. – Delaware parents are outraged and speaking out tonight after a bill to increase school resource officers statewide was killed in committee.

“These children and these students are the future of our state, and to put their safety first should be a priority,” explained Kim Petters, a Kent County mom who, for years, has advocated for increasing safety in Delaware schools.

The legislation, House Bill 32, would have established school officer units to fund school resource officers (SROs) or constables in all of Delaware’s public schools. There’s actually a number of schools across the First State that do not have an SRO on-site.

The bill’s future was left in the dark after Democrats who sit on the House Education Committee voted against it, a decision that’s left some Delaware parents like Erin Chronister shocked and appalled.

“If we had one priority, it should be making sure that our schools are secure and safe,” Chronister emphasized. “I think that it’s really important that we do take this seriously because I don’t want to be on the news saying ‘well, our lawmakers said it really wasn’t a big chance of this happening.'”

Chronister was alluding to the fear that many parents have across the First State, and the country for that matter, and that’s the potential for a mass school shooting.

After the bill was killed, many parents took to social media to express their frustration, and in doing so they made it clear that there hope was that the bill would pass and add another layer of protection for their children to help prevent such tragedies.

Among the Democrats who sit on the House Education Committee who voted against the legislation is State Rep. Claire Snyder Hall. WMDT’s Rob Petree asked her about those concerns, specifically about how parents feel the bill could help prevent mass shootings in schools.

Rob: “God forbid, what happens when someone walks into a Delaware school with a machine gun?”
Snyder Hall: “Well, that’s, uh, horrible situation if it were ever to happen. Of course, that’s a statistically low probability event, and there’s no evidence that the presence of SROs in schools have stopped mass shootings in the past. So, hopefully that won’t happen.”

Rep. Snyder Hall says she voted against the bill because of the price of it, and claimed that they could hire multiple teachers for the price of one SRO.

“The SRO bill was not voted out of committee, not because we don’t care about school safety, but because of the astronomical price tag,” Snyder Hall said. “We could hire three teachers for the price of one SRO. And there’s a lot of needs in the schools and I think that our public resources would be better used if we let educators educate and let the police do police work.”

That’s a notion Chronister took exception with.

“A constable’s salary, Appo and probably MOT, they’re about the same, it’s like 40 grand a year to start,” Chronister said. “So, I would just ask ‘like, what are we paying our teachers if we can hire two to three teachers for the salary of one constable?’ That seems a little outrageous.”

The bill’s primary sponsor, State Rep. Bryan Shupe, said he was disappointed his bill didn’t make it out of committee, but that he’s hopeful lawmakers can come together as parents continue to make their voices heard.

“I don’t think it’s the end,” Rep. Shupe said confidently. “I think we’ll all come together after parents have a say and call their representatives and their senators.”

Rep. Shupe took issue with some of the arguments that were raised as the bill was considered in committee, specifically a notion that to add more SROs in Delaware schools could create a ‘prison pipeline’ that starts in school.

“I was very disappointed that the safety of our children wasn’t a priority,” Rep. Shupe said. “What I was most disappointed at though was the calls from other representatives trying to say that SROs would create a ‘education to prison pipeline’ or suggesting that SROs would be arresting kids for doing things that kids usually do.”

While the bill may be dead this time around, Rep. Shupe and his Republican colleagues who supported it hope that a future bill will be considered with a different outcome and that the conversation continues on how to increase safety in Delaware schools.