By Adam Pagnucco.
Here is today’s question.
Should school resource officers be stationed inside MCPS schools?
Fatmata Barrie (D)
I have not supported placing school resource officers in schools as a primary approach to student safety. My focus has been on ensuring schools have the resources they need to support students proactively, including counselors, behavioral health professionals, and restorative practices.
We also must acknowledge the documented psychological and emotional harm which can be caused to some students by having police officers in schools. We should be prioritizing prevention and support so students feel safe and supported in their learning environments.
I believe the proper programs that will best serve our school system are programs supported by behavioral therapists and mental health professionals providing wrap-around services for students and restorative behavior practices. As a councilmember, I will fight to increase the behavioral therapists and mental health professionals in our schools because SROs should not be responsible for dealing with situations law enforcement is not best equipped to navigate.
Josie Caballero (D)
I believe that this decision should be left to the educators and the school employees, because they know the needs best and as a councilwoman, it is my duty to listen and provide the needed public safety for the staff and our children. As the daughter of a police officer, I know firsthand how much difference law enforcement officers can make in others’ lives. This is not a simple answer as this conversation must be driven by the people who work in the schools.
Radwan Chowdhury (D)
Public safety in schools must be balanced with a supportive and inclusive environment.
I support a collaborative approach that includes trained safety personnel, mental health professionals, and community-based strategies. Any use of school resource officers should be carefully evaluated, with clear roles, training, and accountability.
Our goal must be safe, supportive learning environments for all students.
Marc Elrich (D)
School safety is a very high priority and we should continue to explore new ways to keep students safe in the classroom. I have supported the cluster model in my term as County Executive. Officers are supposed to be in school for opening, closing and through lunch periods and they are supposed to have an office where they can be reached in-between and be available to students. The officers are also supposed to stop in other nearby schools when they’re not required to present in the building.
Dana Gassaway (D)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Scott Goldberg (D)
Of the 17 candidates in the At‑Large race, my life partner and I have more kids in MCPS right now than the other 16 candidates combined, and that shapes how I think about school safety. As a substitute teacher, I see that safety is much deeper than a debate over school resource officers, so the conversation about how to keep our children safe must be much bigger. As part of that layered approach, I support having highly trained school resource officers present in schools so they can build positive relationships with students, but not being involved in the demographically disparate discipline practices that were cited before SROs were removed. Safety also means making school a joyful place for learning with strong after‑school programming, mental‑health support, wraparound services, accountability, and clear consequences. When all of those pieces work together, that’s how we keep kids safe.
Hamza Khan (D)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Matt Losak (D)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Jim McNulty (D)
All kids deserve to feel safe at school. I support returning trained law enforcement to MCPS schools in a structured, community-connected role. The decision to remove SROs has not made schools demonstrably safer. I know high school parents who praised the mentor relationship their student had with the SRO at their high school prior to their removal. That connection has been lost.
Public safety is a top priority of mine. In 2010, Montgomery County Police saved my life during the attempted suicide bombing at Discovery Channel in Silver Spring. Having lived through an active shooter event, I pray that none of our students or parents ever have to experience what my family and I did. Tragically, we had two shootings at our schools since SROs were removed. Having officers in the building allows them to create bonds and build relationships, ideally heading off any potential issue that could come from within. We can protect our kids without the fear of creating a “school to prison pipeline” if it’s done thoughtfully, to help build up our students and empower them to maximize their high school experience.
Jeremiah Pope (D)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-Incumbent)
Student safety must be our top priority, but I do not support permanently stationing school resource officers in all MCPS schools. Research shows that constant police presence can have unintended effects on social-emotional learning.
We also have to take into account the broader context. Law enforcement agencies nationwide are facing ongoing staffing shortages, with many departments still below pre-2020 levels. Recruitment challenges have led to increased bonuses and, in some cases, reduced hiring standards. Montgomery County is not immune to these trends, so we must be thoughtful about how we deploy limited sworn personnel.
As the Health and Human Services Committee Chair, our County has taken a more moderate approach by shifting from traditional SROs to Community Engagement Officers (CEOs) who focus on relationship-building. We have also invested in Mobile Crisis Outreach Teams that pair behavioral health professionals with trained responders to de-escalate situations and address trauma-informed needs.
I support swift law enforcement response when necessary, while prioritizing prevention through mental health services, counseling, and restorative practices. Student safety is more than the presence of law enforcement; it’s about the right-sizing of the response every time, to support a safe, inclusive, and healthy learning environment for every student.
Prabu Selvam (D)
Every child and teacher deserves to be safe in school, and we must take bold action to ensure that. As a father, this is personal to me. I am a strong supporter of unarmed security personnel in every school, including elementary schools, with specialized training on prevention, threat assessment, disarming, and subduing attackers. We must also do the basics well, ensuring every external door is secure, entry to the school is closely monitored, and the physical environment allows for safely sheltering in place.
Real-world data, including a 2021 JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) research article, shows no clear evidence that an armed security officer makes schools safer. It is well documented by multiple sources, including RAND, that with in-school police officers, safety is not a clear benefit, but more suspensions and arrests do occur. This places more children, often those who are most vulnerable, at risk of long-term disruption to their education from which they may never recover. With most violent crime in schools perpetrated by students themselves or previous graduates, it is so critical that we ensure universal and meaningful access to mental health screening, referral, and treatment when necessary for every student.
Karla Silvestre (D)
School safety should be guided by what works, strong relationships between trusted adults and students, and what actually keeps students safe. School resource officers are one tool in the toolbox, not the entire strategy.
Montgomery County moved away from full-time school resource officers, and it is appropriate to evaluate whether the current approach is meeting expectations. As a school board member I know that when schools reopened after the pandemic without officers, arrest data did not significantly change. This showed me that arrests and suspensions are not driven by their presence alone. Safety requires a full system, including security staff, mental health supports, threat assessment protocols, and coordination with law enforcement.
I support a school-based police presence when the focus is on relationship building, not discipline. Principals have said they value having officers in their schools, and the key is strictly following and enforcing the memorandum of understanding so officers are not involved in routine school discipline and remain focused on safety and relationships.
Students deserve to feel safe, and families deserve confidence that we are using every effective tool responsibly.
Steve Solomon (D)
Yes. School resource officers should never have been removed. Not only do they provide safety and security, but they became a trusted member of the school community. 25 of 25 high school principals were against removing the SROs but the county did it anyway.
Lelia True (D)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Vicki Vergagni (D)
Yes, if the officer is specially trained and conducts himself/herself to be viewed as fair, firm and friendly. This is not a “pal” position, but rather an “authority” figure who can be trusted and must be respected.
Muhammad Arif Wali (D)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Sherwin Wells (R)
Public Safety is a hot topic in Montgomery County Maryland and I strongly believe that MCPS would have less gun violence and assaults with school resource officers stationed inside MCPS.