School Resource Officer’s perspective

To the Editor:

As the current, and only (SRO) School Resource Officer at Champlain Valley Union High School, I am writing to share my thoughts and offer up another perspective from the article in the Shelburne News “Teachers speak out against police in Champlain Valley Schools” of Nov. 25.

It is my privilege and responsibility to hold this position. I understand the concerns brought before the school board, and believe it is in the best interest of the school community to build a bridge to understanding the concerns of students, faculty, and staff. I am truly here as a resource and support for everyone.As the only SRO in CVU’s history, and a position that was requested just a short time ago, I would like to let you know I am here should you have any questions about the position of SRO, the training it takes for the responsibilities of the position, and the benefits of having an SRO in a school setting.

If I would have been contacted you would have learned something more about me, my training, my skills, and my approach with building relationships as the cornerstone of the safety of everyone in the CVU community. I take the position of SRO at CVU extremely seriously. It is a job I was made for and trained to do. I have over 20 years of experience, education, and training as a police officer with the majority of my career on the University of Vermont campus with students. I have a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and have successfully completed numerous trainings including diversity trainings while at UVM PD and Shelburne PD, bullying and harassment trainings, firearms training, emergency operations planning & school safety training and exercise development workshop, both the basic and advanced training courses in (NASRO) National Association of School Resource Officers. Building relationships and taking care of the students, faculty, and staff under my watch is not something I take lightly. One of the most important aspects of my job as an SRO is to know the threats facing our school, work toward reducing and/or eliminating the threats and potential threats, and to create a culture of safety and security at CVU — The first line of defense is my having established solid relationships with the CVU Community, then secondly is me responding to the violent situation that could cause harm to our educational community. Below you will find some data that I shared with the school board in October.

While I cannot share the details of these situations, while at CVU I’ve been involved in the following incidents:

Threatening incidents

Welfare checks

Motor vehicle crashes

Ambulance/rescue

Agency assists

Juvenile problems; fighting, family disturbances

Bullying and harassment

Sexual assaults

DCF involvement

Tobacco/marijuana incidents

Public Speaking for classes/groups

Safety and Security of the building and grounds

Building relationships with the CVU community

Having an SRO at CVU brings forth the opportunity to build bridges between law enforcement the students, and the community. It’s in the building of relationships over time that we learn from each other, learn to trust each other, and learn how to help each other. Strengthening the supports and systems for students, faculty, and staff is most possible when all teams and experts work together for student health. This includes teachers, counselors, social workers, staff, an empathetic and caring community, and that includes the knowledge and duty of a school resource officer to complete the team.

I present this information for your review. While I currently serve in this position and can share the merits of having an SRO in the school and bridge the educational community with the offices and understanding of law enforcement, I also believe that this is a decision to be made with the school and community. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can be of any further assistance.

SRO Matthew Collins M. Ed.

CVU School Resource Officer