Santa Rosa City Schools May Bring Back Campus Police

Santa Rosa City Schools could become the latest district to bring back school resource officers, three years after it cut ties with the police department.

On June 28, the school board voted to adopt a strategic plan that includes the possible return of SROs. The change of heart follows an on-campus stabbing that left one student dead in March.

Santa Rosa City Schools was one of many districts that abandoned its SRO program in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Following George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police, many students of color said they felt less safe in the presence of officers.

In the years that followed, violent on-campus incidents have caused some districts to reconsider. 

• Pomona Unified brought police back after just four months, prompted by a shooting outside a high school. 
• The Pajaro Valley Unified School District reinstated its SRO program after a fatal school stabbing in 2021. 
• San Jose Unified brought police back for special events just six weeks after kicking them off campuses. 
• The Fresno Unified School Board reversed course on SROs after the massacre in Uvalde. 

The March stabbing at Montgomery High School was one of many incidents that have sparked calls for change at Santa Rosa City Schools. Read our previous articles on rising school violence in Santa Rosa here and here.