FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — The shooting deaths of 19 elementary students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas have reignited the debate over school resource officers in Virginia.
Following the shooting at Robb Elementary School, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin met with multiple members of his cabinet Wednesday to evaluate future steps to improve school safety reviving his plan to assign $50 million in the state budget so that every school in the commonwealth has a school resource officer.
This year, a bill that would require every public school in Virginia to have a full-time police officer failed in the senate. Opponents of the legislation like the ACLU of Virginia argue that "policing in schools disproportionately targets students of color and students with disabilities" adding that the presence of an SRO "allows for escalation of routine administrative discipline."
The tragedy in Uvalde also has the Fairfax County Chief of Police, Kevin Davis saying that it is time to end the debate over resource officers in schools.
"The conversations that I have had with principals, administrators and teachers throughout my career, they realize the value of police officers inside of schools," said Davis to WUSA9.
Currently, every middle school and high school in Fairfax County has an SRO, with the exception of Robinson, Hayfield and Lake Braddock Secondary Schools; they each have two.
Father of three daughters, Fredy Burgos has been advocating for increased school safety for years. He says the time to act is now.
"We have over 180,000 students so we have a potential that something could happen because of the amount of people that attend our schools. It is important that we have the ability to protect all of our students," says Burgos who serves as the Vice-chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Virginia.
There is still time for Younkin's SRO plan to be included in the budget, Virginia lawmakers will head back to Richmond for a special session on the budget on June 1.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin calls for lawmakers to fund school resource officers in every school in the state.