Guest Post: Open letter to MoCoBoe in Support of the Montgomery County, MD SRO Program

Published on February 27, 2021

Dear Board of Education Members,

The first priorities of government are public safety and public education, and without public safety, public education suffers – we all know that students cannot learn in an unsafe school environment. My name is Susan Burkinshaw. Many of you know that I have been a proponent of the School Resource Officer (SRO) Program since I became involved with MCCPTA and became an advocate for public safety and school safety and security in 2008. I am one of the authors of the 2010 MCCPTA SRO Resolution that equitably resolved to have an SRO in each high school in MCPS so all schools would enjoy the benefits of the program equally.

You should also know by now that the SRO program is a best practice in community policing. The SRO Program supports efficiencies for the police department, for school administration and for students, their families and the surrounding school neighborhoods. SROs allow access to a police officer dedicated to the school buildings to address reporting and investigations not afforded by beat officers and their disparate shift schedules (as compared to daily school schedules). Calls for service are also significantly reduced by having a dedicated SRO in a school building.

Please do not turn a blind eye to the fact that the MCPS principals have unanimously come out in support of the SRO Program – they are the ones who rely on these officers in their school buildings to keep their staff and students safe every day and they can attest to the benefits directly.

As a community member I am comforted knowing that there is an officer in the school building a quarter mile from my home to keep students safe from both internal and external threats, while allowing the rest of the department to patrol the community and provide backup for the SRO as needed – with upwards of 3,000 students and staff in many of our high schools on a normal school day, this is an extremely efficient use of police resources and tax dollars. These resource benefits are compounded by the added benefit to students of SROs maintaining positive relationships and contact with students, participating in Restorative Justice Circles, providing wellness checks and mental health EAP for students in crisis, leading school drills, and the myriad other functions they perform daily.

It should also be noted that our county’s SROs are majority minority – there are 26 total SROs in the program with demographic composition as follows: 10 Black males, 5 Black females, 1 Hispanic male, 8 White males, and 2 White females. If you speak to these officers directly you will find out that they are in the program because they want to help students – not to arrest them for no reason.

The debate about eliminating the SRO program has stemmed from political unrest and the resulting anti-police sentiment nationally without looking at facts and hard data from right here in Montgomery County. The real question is, are minority students being targeted? If so, that should be a question for you and the school administration, not the SRO program. Ninety-seven percent of SRO arrests were initiated by school administrators. Eliminating the SRO program without hard evidence against it is extremely shortsighted and dangerous.

Since reported incidents are down historically across the county since the implementation of the SRO program (a total of 136,832 students were enrolled in MCPS during the 2001-02 school year and 7,104 serious incidents were reported; in the 2010-11 school year, with 144,064 students enrolled, 4,475 serious incidents were reported; In 2018-9, the most recent reported year, there were 162,680 students and 3,447 [pending confirmation] serious incidents, down another 30%), since most arrests are driven by MCPS, and when data is adjusted to reflect individual school populations and disaggregated, the bias against minorities becomes less statistically significant, it becomes clear that there is less of a problem statistically than opponents would have you believe.

Vocal support for the SRO program is generally much quieter than the knee-jerk politically motivated attacks against it have been. Many students and families, minority or otherwise, who have the most potential to directly benefit from the prevention and intervention methodologies provided by the SRO program (i.e., those being recruited into gangs, such as MS-13; those whose suicide was prevented by an SRO; or those who are victims of domestic abuse) might be less likely to testify in favor of the program because of the sensitivity of their individual circumstances. Add to that the prevention and intervention benefits that cannot be measured (since there is never statistical data on incidents that did not occur and/or were diffused because of the presence of an SRO), it would be irresponsible of the Board of Education and/or our County Council to eliminate the SRO program without concrete evidence against it.

I would further assert that the need for mental health interventions and supports is undeniably great – yet it is not mutually exclusive of the county's SRO program. Both are needed, especially following our collective national and global experience in 2020. Moreover, eliminating the SRO program before or shortly after most students return to school after a year of virtual learning could be catastrophic.

I caution you that the SRO program must not be reduced or eliminated until such time that we have those additional mental health resources in place, AND/OR we have concrete evidence that explicitly supports any potential benefit of reducing it. Until then there is no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater – if there are problems with bias against minority students in our school system, we need to address those issues and prove that they are caused by the SRO Program before this best practice program is eliminated. The SRO program data clearly supports a reduction in the number of serious incidents, it is unanimously supported by MCPS principals and it is a proven best practice in community policing nationally.

The numbers don’t lie and MCPS School Safety and Security data proves the SRO program works here in Montgomery County, Maryland and in Montgomery County Public Schools – a 51% decrease in the number of serious incidents annually in MCPS with a student population increase of 19% since the inception of the program should speak for itself.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Burkinshaw

Germantown, MD

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/open-letter-mocoboe-support-montgomery-county-md-sro-burkinshaw-mba/

In April, a former Montgomery County substitute teacher pleaded guilty to groping two middle school girls. A month later, a county music teacher pleaded guilty to abusing 15 minors.

WASHINGTON — In April, a former Montgomery County substitute teacher pleaded guilty to groping two middle school girls. A month later, a county music teacher pleaded guilty to abusing 15 minors. Many of the incidents took place in classrooms during school hours.
While there seems to be a spike in these occurrences, there’s no data to confirm that.
“My sense is that we see more reporting,” says Carol Shakeshaft, an educational leadership professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. “As people have become more aware of it and it’s in the papers more, people are willing to step up and report.”...

 http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2015/07/analyst-sexual-abuse-teachers-isnt-examined-enough/

Burkinshaw: "I just don't think implementing bad policy is a best practice and expect more from MCPS."

If I were on the Board of Education, I would not yet vote to approve this [Child Abuse] policy.

I do agree they have come very far this year, due in large part because of parent volunteers on the workgroup (which is now an advisory group, whatever that means). It scares me that without parent involvement in this process (which has met with much resistance from school administrators along the way), this process would not have come so far. But we are not there yet.

The same people who have perpetuated the problems within the system over are the years are the ones responsible for making the changes to the policy with no accountability.

The definitions the policy relies on reside in the yet-to-be-approved regulations. What if those definitions are changed before that document is approved? Policy assumptions will be negated. The policy depends on cooperation among county agencies with a yet-to-be-approved memorandum of understanding. Not to mention that at last review the current policy language was in conflict with Maryland State Atty General opinions and state law. 

This policy is just not ready, but I am not advocating to stop moving forward. I just don't think implementing bad policy is a best practice and expect more from MCPS.

My former boss used to say, "If you can't do it right the first time, when will you have time to fix it?"
This is not yet an A paper. I expect MCPS to give our kids their best work.

Susan Burkinshaw
MCPS Parent and Child Safety Advocate

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-schools-abuse-policy-up-for-vote-with-critics-saying-more-work-needed/2015/06/28/2b482abe-141c-11e5-9518-f9e0a8959f32_story.html

BOE to Leave Children in Danger of Being Sexually Abused, BOE to Accept Illegal Policy

Open Letter from Jennifer Alvaro to Montgomery County Board of Education in advance of their Monday, June 29, 2015, vote on Policy JHC Child Abuse and Neglect.

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June 21, 2015 

To:  Montgomery County Board of Education

In 2012, you were instructed by the state board of education to correct errors and flaws committed by MCPS which allowed and enabled a member of your staff to continue sexually abusing students for years. You chose to do nothing. Since 2012, the public has been made aware of well over a dozen cases where MCPS staff have been arrested & convicted (for sexual abuse) or publicly identified as being as inappropriate sexually to our children.

Please share your rational for ignoring the state board of education and their recommendations.

Please tell me other situations where constituents are ignored and dismissed without being spoken to directly after 3 years of outreach.

Please tell the public what other workgroup(s) MCPS has convened (which have been downgraded to advisory group) whose own group members have to file freedom of information requests to get public documents that relate to the issue they are working on. Information I am still waiting for, I might add.

Please share with the public what other policies & regulations MCPS are currently implementing or planning to implement with full knowledge they violate / conflict with current laws, statutes and AG opinions.

Please share with the public how it is possible to pass a policy based upon other critical documents that have not yet been written much less approved.

Please explain how the schools are going to train 23,000 employees and countless volunteers about sexual abuse without being able to show them (via the code of conduct) what grooming behaviors are.

Please share with us, why county leadership is willing to pass a policy when MCPS staff who are the lead members of the advisory group have stated in meetings, “it’s not perfect” and “we’ve done a lot but still need to do more”.

Please share with us how we as parents are to find it reassuring or acceptable you as a board are going to leave our children in danger of being sexually abused by your staff by you passing a flawed policy because, “we are going to review it every year”. Please show us hard data where this has worked for you in the past.

Please explain how it is acceptable to attempt to publicly blame & shame parents by making public comments saying they have demanded action but now are demanding you slow down. These parents (myself included) are simply asking you to postpone one vote and demand accountability and excellence from your staff so our children are safe. We are not asking you to slow down anything, had you demanded excellence from your staff, we would now be supporting approval of the policy.

Please explain how it is acceptable for the leaders of a world class school system to have abdicated their most basic duty to ensure safety and demand excellence.

Please explain how it is acceptable to knowingly do the wrong thing because you have delayed doing the right thing for so long.

Please reflect upon the following:

“To study psychological trauma is to come face to face both with human vulnerability in the natural world and with the capacity for evil in human nature. . . Those who bear witness are caught in the conflict between victim and perpetrator. It is morally impossible to remain neutral in this conflict. The bystander is forced to take sides. It is very tempting to take the side of the perpetrator. All the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement, and remembering”. Judith Herman

Jennifer Alvaro
MCPS Child Abuse Advisory Group Member 
Parent of 2 MCPS Students 
Alumni of MCPS Schools 
Licensed Clinical Social worker (MD &VA) 
Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider

FYI to BOE: Abuse thrives in secrecy – in 2012 the Maryland State Board of Ed directed you to take concrete steps to protect children in schools. Your response was silence.

Dear Montgomery County Board of Education Members:

Abuse thrives in secrecy – in 2012 the Maryland State Board of Ed directed you to take concrete steps to protect children in schools. Your response was silence.
In September of 2014, MCPS, under the direction of Dr. Joshua Starr, began to respond to media attention to “isolated” incidents of child sexual abuse at Baker and Clemente. Since then, dozens of cases have been publicized that had previously been mishandled. We all know now that these incidents are not isolated. There is a systemic problem in MCPS and there should be accountability for the travesties committed against children in our schools.
As a parent volunteer on this workgroup/advisory group, there has been selective transparency – we are still awaiting documents that we have requested on numerous occasions, and the website has been slow to be updated, if at all. And while we were participating in workgroup/advisory group meetings with multidisciplinary team members, children continued to be abused in our schools.
Please do not vote to implement this draft policy yet. I have grave concerns that doing something without having this policy vetted by child abuse experts with knowledge of laws and Attorney General opinions at the state level will be a huge mistake. I believe there are major flaws in this policy, major loopholes, conflicts with Attorney General Opinions, and inconsistencies with Maryland law.
Additionally...

open letter to Montgomery County Board of Education continues at this link.

Education Advocate Resigns From MCCPTA

Susan Burkinshaw has resigned from her position as treasurer of the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (MCCPTA).
Burkinshaw, who was also the health and safety committee co-chair of the MCCPTA, said she no longer wanted to be part of the executive committee because she had concerns about the efficacy of the leadership team.
“I constantly felt that I was pushing back on decisions that were being made, and I was not comfortable continuing to be a part of the leadership team,” Burkinshaw said...

...On March 17, the Maryland PTA received a written request from Burkinshaw to review MCCPTA’s decision to rescind her appointment.
Below is Ray Leone, president of Maryland PTA, response:
“First and most important is that in looking at your complaint it became obvious that the Montgomery Council was not following proper procedure in regards to recognizing Co-Chairs. Co-Chairs are not legal appointments. No co-chairs presently listed can be recognized as board members. We have urged the Council to look at their current Board structure and correct these bylaw infractions and appoint one chair per committee. We realize that the Council has been operating this was for some time. Now that they are aware of the interpretation being incorrect we are asking that it be addressed and corrected.”...

 http://www.mymcmedia.org/education-advocate-resigns-from-mccpta/