Community Members Debate Police Removal From Schools The Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) held a public hearing Tuesday in which community members shared pre-recorded statements debating the continued presence of police in schools, otherwise known as the School Resource Officer (SRO) program. The vast majority of speakers, 24 out of 31, emphatically called for the district to terminate the SRO program citing its inefficacy and harmfulness. They requested that the Board instead direct resources to mental health services and school support staff. ”We need to stop trying to make police something that they’re not,” said Lauren Payne of Richmond High School and president of Young People for Progress. “They’re not there to be mentors. They’re not there to help students. They’re there to police students, and that’s not what students across this county need.”