In case you all hadn't seen it in the Capital or Sun today, County Exec Leopold just announced he will put SRO's (School Resource Officers) in the budget next year for Corchran Middle School and Bates, and he specifically mentioned this coming "at the request of the Bates PTA". Love it! Additionally, Channel 2 came to Bates today for some footage of the cafeteria and hallways. We'll be watching tonite to see how it nets out, but Dr. Bragdon was given the impression from the Public Information Officer that it would be a good piece.
For those of you who haven't had an opportunity to come to recent PTA meetings, you know that getting an SRO for Bates has been a priority for quite a while for a number of reasons: First, we were one of the few middle schools in the county who did not have an SRO already, so we wanted the same resources that other schools like Annapolis Middle and Chesapeake Bay Middle (for example) have enjoyed for years. Second, the administration felt very strongly, and we agreed, that having an SRO on site creates positive relationships between students and law enforcement that can have a strong pro-active impact on current and future behavior. Finally, it can serve as a resource for Bates students and staff. There are still quite a few details to iron out, such as whether the SRO will be staffed by the City or the County, but the Mayor and the County Exec both seem to want to make it work.
Thanks for believing in the power of parent involvement!
