Loudoun County supervisors vote to remove funding for elementary school resource officers

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. - Loudoun County elementary schools won’t be getting school resource officers, at least for now.

The Board of Supervisors voted to remove funding for the positions from the county budget, saying more discussion is needed first.

FOX 5’s Maureen Umeh says that Loudoun County currently has school resource officers in every middle and high school.

But after a heated debate Monday night, county leaders decided not to fund a plan that would have expanded the program into elementary schools. The board voted to remove a request from the Sheriff’s Office that would have started adding SROs to elementary campuses.

The sheriff had asked for funding to begin placing 15 officers a year until all 62 elementary schools were covered. Some supervisors said they want a formal agreement between the School Board and the Sheriff’s Office before spending millions of dollars.

Instead, the board approved $2.3 million for a compromise plan to fund five additional officers and a supervisor to help cover absences at middle and high schools.

Sheriff Mike Chapman said he still believes more officers are needed, especially with calls from elementary schools tripling in recent years.

For now, county leaders say they want the School Board and the sheriff to work out an agreement on how officers would operate in elementary schools.

The final county budget vote is expected in April.