Loudoun County Board of Supervisors votes against putting SROs in elementary schools

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. - The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has decided against funding school resource officers for elementary schools — for now. 

What we know:

In a 3-2-1 vote, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors moved not to fund SRO’s at elementary schools across the district. 

Instead, another motion was placed to add five school resource officers and a seargent to help backfill when officers are called to elementary schools. 

But the board chair says there's still a larger conversation to be had. 

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: School resources officers could expand to elementary schools in Loudoun County

What they're saying:

"We need to have extra SROs to backfill calls that we aren’t able to take because of moving people to middle schools, to elementary schools. I think it's a good compromise," Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said. 

"What’s offensive to me is this: continually talking about the school-to-prison pipeline and what it does to Black and brown kids. Do not use the pain of Black and brown people to further your agenda when you don’t know what you’re talking about," Board Chair Phyllis Randall said. 

Randall, along with other supervisors, highlighted their concern about armed officers at elementary schools.

Dig deeper:

There were also questions about why hundreds of calls from elementary schools every year need the assistance of an SRO.

While the county Board of Supervisors acknowledges that security is a priority, the majority agreed that this all needs to be formally discussed with the school board before approving any funding.

Meanwhile, parents are weighing in, giving the sheriff and school board more time to come to some sort of agreement.