Phoenix Union High School District approves 15 new school resource officers

The Phoenix Union High School District is getting a safety boost in the 2026-27 school year.

During a June 4 meeting, the governing board approved the addition of 15 school resource officers.

In January, the district applied for an Arizona Department of Education school safety program grant that will cover the $2,775,690 cost for the SROs.

Chief Operating Officer Althe Allen said during the meeting that having more SROs in schools helps increase security for all people on or around campus.

“They promote that accessibility before school, during lunch, after school — promote safety for not only our campus and our students, but for our community. They participate in safety planning and assessments, emergency preparedness and drills. They can provide training for our students and for our staff,” she said.

Phoenix Union removed school resource officers in 2020

In 2020, Phoenix Union voted to remove SROs from its campuses over student protesting and budgeting. In 2023, the district’s safety committee recommended the district bring SROs back, with Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne’s encouragement.

The district polled teachers, parents and students before applying for the grant this year and found the majority of personnel involved in the district supported having more SROs on school grounds.

Allen said having more safety personnel available helps with security concerns outside of schools as well.

“Things happen before school at the street corner. There could be an accident before school even starts. There are things that happen during the school day that don’t even necessarily involve our students or our staff, but bleed onto our campus from the greater community. And our SROs are there to be able to assist immediately,” she said.

This comes months after State Superintendent Tom Horne called for state lawmakers to add $40 million in funding to the Department of Education’s school safety program to provide more SROs across the state.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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