Arlington School Board votes to remove police from schools

ARLINGTON, Va. - In a unanimous 5 to 0 vote on Thursday night, the Arlington County Public School Board voted to remove school resource officers from permanent daily positions in schools.

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The vote follows the recommendations of a working group which studied the issue for months and concluded most non law enforcement duties of school resource officers can be done by other adults in the school system.

Superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán stressed that officers would remain on beats patrolling the areas where APS buildings are located and police would still be called to respond to emergencies or when law enforcement is requested.

It is not clear what will happen with the nearly $3 million budget or the current SROs in terms of how their assignments will change. The finances for the program is controlled by the Arlington County Board, not APS.

Arlington becomes the second school district in the D.C. region to make the decision to remove police from schools after Alexandria took the same vote this year.

D.C., Montgomery and Prince George's counties have all had conversations about proposals for police-free schools, but no decisions have been made there.