On Wednesday, the House Education Committee refused to advance a measure to facilitate the placement of at least one school resource officer (SRO) or constable in every public school.
Sponsored by State Rep. Bryan Shupe (R-Milford South, pictured), House Bill 32 seeks to provide a funding unit for the officers--similar to how teachers and other education employees are financed. The state typically pays about 70% of the expense of these positions, with local schools picking up the remainder.
Under the proposal, schools with over 1,000 students would qualify for additional funding. Local district officials could opt out of the program if they chose not to participate.
The vote to table the proposal broke along partisan lines. Democrats, who hold the majority on the committee, voted against the bill’s release. Republican legislators favored allowing it to proceed to the House floor for further debate and consideration.
One of the chief objections voiced by Democratic committee members was the bill’s cost. If the funding unit proposed by the measure were fully utilized by all eligible schools, assuming the current ratio of SROs to constables remains consistent, the bill would cost state taxpayers a maximum of $23.5 million in the upcoming fiscal year.
However, Rep. Shupe cautioned his colleagues that the actual expense would likely be much less than this since many local school officials would likely choose not to employ SROs or constables in all their facilities.
Education Committee Democrats maintained that whatever the actual cost, the money would better be spent on raising teacher salaries and hiring school-based mental health workers.
According to the National Education Association, the average annual salary for an educator in Delaware in 2024 was $68,787, ranking it 16th in the nation. Last year, the General Assembly also committed to raising the starting salary of all public school teachers to $60,000.
Last August, the governor signed bipartisan legislation creating a mental health services funding unit for Delaware high schools so high schools could add a full-time school counselor, school social worker, or licensed clinical social worker. The measure passed without a dissenting vote. When fully phased in, House Bill 200 will carry an initial annual state cost of $22.8 million.
Testifying on behalf of the SRO funding bill was Joey Melvin, a former SRO who worked in Georgetown and Milford and is currently the director of the Pennsylvania-based Center for Safe Schools. He told the committee members that while SROs are law enforcement officers, their primary role in schools was not surveillance and arrests but building relationships with students, parents, teachers, and other school staffers.
“During my time as an SRO, I saw that earning the trust of a child often extends to the parents, the guardians, and, in essence, the community,” he said. “It fosters collaborations, interventions, and a better sense of safety for everyone.”
He added that his organization provides SRO training emphasizing aiding students with disabilities, building relationships with diverse student populations, emergency operations planning, and de-escalation techniques.
The tabling of the SRO funding bill leaves its future in doubt, but the measure could receive an additional hearing anytime during the 153rd General Assembly, which runs through most of next year. A reconsideration of the legislation would require a change of heart on the part of members who opposed it or a proposal to alter the existing bill through an amendment.
|