The debate surrounding the school resource officer position at Rundlett Middle School continued during the Concord school budget hearing on Wednesday, drawing concerned community members eager to voice their apprehensions about the role.

The school budget recommends adding a school resource officer job at Rundlett Middle School, which will cost about $100,000 to serve students in and out of school. The high school already employs a school resource officer.

“Police [are] taught to put people in handcuffs when they make mistakes and take people to prison or jail when they make mistakes, to shoot someone when they need to,” said Fisto Ndayishimiye, who works with the New American youth in Concord.

Ndayishimiye emphasized the deep-seated concerns many share regarding the potential ramifications of introducing such authority figures into the educational environment, which may lead to a “school-to-prison pipeline.” He also believes that the position will create a divide between students and teachers rather than building relationships to help students grow and perform better.

Kate Vaughn, a parent of a student at Broken Ground School advocated for the school district to mirror the police department’s initiative of hiring a social worker instead of an armed officer to connect residents with resources and support services.

“What problem or problems are we trying to fix with the introduction of an SRO at the middle school?” Vaughn asked the school board, urging them to remove the position from the budget. “If the school needs consistency in contact with the police department, a youth caseworker housed within the police department is a better option.”

Middle school site selection continues to draw criticism

The school board’s decision to proceed with the new middle school project, opting to build on raw land near the Broken Ground and Mill Brook schools despite the majority of residents favoring the existing Rundlett Middle School site, continues to raise questions and scrutiny in the community.

Stacey Brown, Ward 5 councilor, said that she would like to see how much has been spent on the middle school project since it began in 2017.

Outside the budget hearing, at the entrance of the Beaver Meadow School building, sat Betty Hoadley, a seasoned school board member of 15 years. Holding a sign familiar to those who frequent school district meetings, it had the message: “Autonomy RIP 12.6.23”, marking the day when the school board determined the middle school’s location.

With an addition at the sign’s bottom declaring, “RIP old friend,” Betty explained, “I believe that autonomy properly handled is a friend for the entire community.”

The community has lost trust in the school board because rather than providing honest and comprehensive information, they opted to fight with the citizens, she said.

“For years and years, the school board usually acted in concert with the community. But this time it has been different,” Hoadley said. “This time, the school board, in my opinion, made a grave error in not selling their decision to the community.”

With the public input received during the budget hearings, the school district will have a budget work session on Monday followed by the final budget presentation on Wednesday.