Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa may have avoided a tragedy Wednesday when police arrested a 16-year-old student for having a loaded gun on campus. It was the second such incident at a Santa Rosa high school in a week. A new school board and a first-year superintendent have work to do to ensure not only that campuses are safe, but that parents and students feel safe as well. They can start by reintroducing school resource officers to campus.

Having police on campus has been the norm for years in Santa Rosa, though the practice had its detractors. Some parents and advocates did not like the idea of ​​supervised children. There has also been heated debate over whether schools or local authorities should pay for the officers.

Then in 2020, Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, and there was a racial assessment across the country. The Santa Rosa School Board voted unanimously to end the campus police program.

Last year a student stabbed and killed another at Montgomery High School. In August, a student stabbed a classmate in a gang-related knife attack at Elsie Allen High School.

a week ago a 16-year-old student was arrested at Elsie Allen for bringing a loaded gun and ammunition to school. And now another in Montgomery.

That’s four gun incidents in a year and a half.

Almost a year ago, after hearing from students and parents, the school board approved a pilot program to return campus police officersbut without a timeline. This is not a case where a pilot program is really necessary. There was a program just a few years ago. Revive it with a few changes and regular reviews of how the program could be improved. Schools are not reinventing the wheel here.

No wonder students don’t feel safe when their classmates show up with guns. Indeed, the two with guns may have brought them as an ill-considered means of protection. Unfortunately, police are providing few details, which does little to ease the concerns of students, parents and school staff.

Critics may argue that campus police are unnecessary. Look at the two gun incidents. School officials intervened and notified the police. That’s true, but things could easily have gone the other way. Having an officer on hand isn’t a guarantee that every incident will be prevented, but a trained public safety professional dealing specifically with problems increases the odds more than relying on teachers and staff who focus on education.

When the police succeed on campus, they get wind of trouble before it escalates. Their interactions with students can ease tensions and improve how young people view law enforcement and vice versa. An effective program can foster an environment where students know someone is looking out for their safety.

Three trustees declined to seek re-election to the seven-member board this year. That means new faces will replace some of the school resource officers’ staunchest critics. There is no better opportunity to return to school resource officers, not as a pilot program, but as part of an intentional plan to make the school safe.

Some details need to be worked out, not least who foots the bill and how to train officers not to criminalize students’ behavior or racially profile them. But recent incidents show that there is no time left to postpone these conversations and start doing something.

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