School administrators may soon add criminal behavior to the list of responsibilities under a proposed agreement between Prince William County’s public school system and its police department.
The proposal is meant to define the government school division’s relationship with law enforcement and govern the actions of school resource officers, SROs. “Therefore, it shall be agreed that all minor criminal behavior committed by a child in the school setting will be handled by [Prince William County Public Schools] administration,” states the proposed memorandum.
The memo doesn’t define minor offenses. Administrators would call the police to restore the peace if need be, the directive continues. Until December 28, the school division asks residents to comment on the new proposal on the county’s school’s website.
In October, a Loudoun County judge sentenced a 15-year-old boy in a case of forcible sodomy and fellatio of a 15-year-old girl in a high school bathroom in May. After the initial attack, the county school division ordered the boy transferred to another high school where he once again attacked another girl in October, authorities said.
Initially, the county school superintendent said he didn’t know about the assaults, but an investigation by WTOP showed he sent an email to County School Board members on the day of the first sexual assault.
Loudoun County authorities declared an unlawful assembly and arrested the first victim’s father at a May School Board meeting. In 2020, Virginia legislators, including Delegate Elizabeth Guzman (D-Prince William County), carried a bill into law that made reporting crimes like stalking and sexual battery to law enforcement optional for schools.
SROs work inside middle and high schools. In recent years, politicians worked to reduce the role of SROs in schools to minimize student exposure to law enforcement.
Following a mass shooting at Stoneman Douglass High School in Florida in February 2018, where a student killed 17 and injured 17 more, politicians in our area scrambled to hire additional SROs to protect schools. Law enforcement agencies in Prince William and Stafford counties explored allowing retired officers to come back to work as SROs.
Increased threats
Changes to the school division’s SRO policy come after a wave of threats of school shootings prompted the additional police at school campuses in recent weeks. So far, police found all to be unfounded but take each seriously.
“Many of the threats circulated on various social media platforms, some vague, others indicating an actual school in the county,” said Prince William County police 1st Sgt. Jonathan Perok. “It’s unknown why there is an actual uptick, but likely media attention and copycats to perhaps delay or cancel school operations take partial responsibility. If any threat is deemed credible, we will work with the school system to ensure parents are notified; however, most of what we are dealing with lately are rumors, miscommunications over already investigated matters, or just kids thinking this is a joke.”
On December 10, Manassas Park Public Schools closed all four schools after a 15-year-old posted a threat to social media. It told the division’s 3,500 students to stay home and attend class online.
On December 8, two unfounded threats of a student with a gun at Stafford Senior High School drew sheriff’s deputies to the campus of more than 2,000 students, forcing a lockdown.
