Future Of ACPS, Law Enforcement Partnership Informed By Feedback

ALEXANDRIA, VA — As the Alexandria City School Board awaits a recommendation from its School and Law Enforcement Partnership advisory group, it received survey results and focus group feedback on the perception of safety in schools.

Feedback about safety, security and policing in Alexandria City Public Schools is meant to inform the School & Law Enforcement Partnership's work. The School Law Enforcement Partnership advisory group will make a recommendation on the future of the school district and Alexandria Police Department partnership in late 2022 or early 2023.

Part of the feedback process was a survey open to students, staff, parents and the community from Sept. 12 to Oct. 9. The survey generated 5,238 responses, including 2,561 students, 780 staff, 1,803 parents and 94 community members. Questions touched on topics like feelings of safety, safety procedures, incidents concerning safety, discipline and school resource officers.

On the school resource officer topic, 39 percent of 995 students who answered said their interactions with school resource officers were neither negative nor positive. There were 22 percent who rated interactions as positive, 28 percent as very positive, 5 percent as somewhat negative and 6 percent as very negative.

Of 292 staff, 59 percent indicated their interactions with school resource officers were very positive, 18 percent were somewhat positive, 20 percent were neither negative nor positive and small percentages were somewhat negative or very negative.

Of 372 parent responses, 43 rated interactions as very positive, 19 percent as somewhat positive, 34 percent as neither negative nor positive, and smaller percentages for somewhat negative or very negative.

Respondents also shared whether they feel school resource officers benefit the schools in certain ways. There were 77 percent of staff and parents who believe the officers make schools a safer place, while 60 percent of students indicated the same.

On consistently responding to conflicts appropriately, 73 percent of staff believe officers do, compared to 65 percent of parents and 56 percent of students.

On de-escalating conflicts, 65 percent of staff said officers do, compared to 64 percent of parents and 52 percent of students.

In addition, a research firm held 18 focus groups in October and November with 142 participants representing various middle and high school student groups, parents, staff and community members. Student sub-groups were English learners, students with disabilities, Hispanic/Latino students, Black/African American students, Francis C. Hammond Middle School students, George Washington Middle School students and Alexandria City High School students.

A key finding from the focus groups was that many stakeholders had limited or no interactions with school resource officers. However, participants in different stakeholder groups believe there isn't enough transparency on school safety and policing data.

Another key finding was that external safety threats caused concern for parents while fighting and drug use are key concerns for students. Participants also highlighted the importance of mental health and emotional supports as some pointed to social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic as a contributor to aggressive actions.

See the full report on the survey and focus group feedback.