Elementary School Resource officers

Dear Editor,

I am writing to you in support of Sheriff Chapman’s proposed budget request to phase in School Resource Officers (SRO’s) over the next four years for every elementary school in Loudoun County. I am a father of three LCPS graduates and I currently have four grandchildren in Loudoun County Public Schools.

This is not a new idea, it was proposed previously when I served on the Board of Supervisors during the budget discussions of March 18, 2019. During that board meeting we discussed Sheriff’s Chapman’s recommendation and the urgency of protecting our elementary school children. No action was taken…

It came up again in 2024, and was proposed again in the Loudoun County Public School’s own Blue Ribbon Panel report. Again, no action was taken…

And here we are in 2026, and the issue of school safety is all that much more pressing than it was seven or even two years ago.

In life we protect the things that are “valuable” to us. We have security for and protect our:

Airports, shopping malls, sports arenas, stadiums, music and arts venues, museums, banks, armored cars, and churches.

We even protect our public servants…

In the School Board building, the County Government Center, the General Assembly Building, and the US Congress.

Closer to home here at LCPS we have SRO’s in our Middle Schools, High Schools, at our football games, basketball games, other sporting events and fine arts productions…

Is there anything more precious or valuable than our elementary school children?

I hope that Loudoun County Public Schools and the Board of Supervisors will get on board and support Sheriff Chapman’s SRO proposal.

School security doesn’t begin in sixth grade… We have only been waiting since 2019.

Let’s not wait until we have a tragedy that we COULD have prevented.

Sincerely,
Geary Higgins
Waterford, Virginia