Arizona Supt. Horne urges Phoenix district to reconsider stance on armed officers

PHOENIX — Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is urging leaders of a Phoenix district to reconsider their decision about funding for armed school resource officers at two campuses.

He spoke out after the Phoenix Union High School District’s governing board rejected grant applications that would pay for SROs at Betty Fairfax and Carl Hayden high schools.

“The school board should listen to their teachers, administrators and staff, and they should give them the safety they’re calling for,” Horne said during a Thursday press conference.

School resource officer funding should go forward, Horne says

Horne said the governing board should have approved the grants to ensure schools have armed officers to defend students in case of a mass shooting.

“If the people in the school, the administrators say, ‘We need this for our safety’ and the school board rejects it, and then the unthinkable happens, it will illustrate what a bad decision this was,” Horne said.

“The grant money for these officers is still available and we are respectfully asking the Phoenix Union High School Board reconsider the decision that they made.”

After voting not to fund the officers at the two high schools, the board released a statement saying it will “always prioritize the safety” of students and staff.

The board’s statement outlined several new steps it is taking to promote safety on campuses, such as installing weapon detection systems and adding school counselors paid for by funding from an Arizona Department of Education safety grant.

Retired teacher says counselors can’t replace armed security

Three former and current teachers from the district joined Horne during the press conference, including retired educator Susan Groff.

“Counselors are very important, and our students deserve compassion. However, counselors and teachers? We are not first responders. So, we need an SRO also,” Groff said.

While metal detectors are important for physical safety, they cannot build trust with students, which makes the officers more valuable, Groff added.

“Let’s not wait for something awful to happen before we recognize the value of having safety personnel who actually know our students and our schools,” she said. “School resource officers are invaluable.”

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

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