"Police don't belong in schools." That's what the head of the radical, Left-wing ACLU of Montana told a Helena newspaper earlier this week. So what do you think? Should school resource officers (SRO's) be pulled from the schools?

We spoke with Montana's Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen about school re-opening plans. We also got her take on efforts to defund the police and efforts to remove school resource officers in Montana.

Superintendent Arntzen talked about the importance of showing support for the men and women in law enforcement. She also reiterated her support for school resource officers serving in public schools. "SRO's are genuine people. They're men and women in uniform and they represent safety. It's another layer of school safety," said Arntzen.

She added that school resource officers aren't just present in the schools from a protection standpoint, but that they are there to listen.

Click below to listen as we talked school resource officers and efforts to defund the police with Supt. Arntzen:

Earlier this week, Peter Christian with our sister station KGVO radio in Missoula also spoke with Arntzen about school reopening plans in Montana.

Arntzen said the remote learning that was forced upon schools during the COVID-19 shutdowns will serve as a learning point for moving forward in the Fall. She added that her task force, while focused on reopening schools in the Fall, was also able to take a broader approach:

What came out of this was so exciting. Because it’s going to reshape what education is going to look like. Not back to that traditional mold where you have the teacher standing up in front and all of these things going on. It’s about being flexible about how students learn and focusing on children learning and their successes.

 

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