Winooski, September 16, 2020 – The Winooski School District (WSD) School Resource Officer (SRO), Jason Ziter, will return to WSD tomorrow, Thursday, September 17.
The SRO will drive an unmarked car and wear a soft uniform, which is khaki pants and a polo shirt with the Winooski Police Department (WPD) insignia. The SRO will be armed, per the Winooski Police Department’s General Order issued by the chief of police, which states that the SRO is an active duty police officer while serving the school district.
Suppression of the SRO position was one of the eight demands presented to the WSD Board of Trustees and Leadership Team by the Winooski Students for Antiracism (WSA) in July. Read the original eight demands here.
WSD Board meetings addressing the WSA demands, including by members of the school and Winooski community during public comments, were held on July 15, July 20, July 22, August 12, and September 6. Read the minutes from these meetings here.
On August 10 and 11 the WSA met with the WSD Leadership Team. Through this discussion process, the WSA revised their demands and the revision was discussed at the August 12th board meeting.
On September 15, Superintendent McMannon and the WSD Board of Trustees reviewed WSD policies and discussed the fact that their process of adopting the WSA’s demands was in conflict with their board’s governance processes. This reflection led them to amend their adoption of the WSA demands, specifically the SRO position. The WSD Board voted 4-1 in favor of amending the adoption of the WSA Demands, accepting Demands #1 and #4-8, and not accepting #2 and #3 as stated.
During the 9/15 meeting, the board discussed how they had not provided sufficient opportunity for community engagement related to the issue of the SRO. In the coming months, the board plans to lead a public education and engagement process about the future of safety and security at WSD, including the SRO position, in order to make a decision during the budget cycle for the 2021-22 school year. A third-party facilitator will lead this public education and engagement process, and members of WSA, City of Winooski, and WSD will participate in the design and implementation of this process.
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