"We realize that most of the issues that these kids are facing are non-academic issues that cause the to come to school and misbehave," says JSO's Assistant Chief of Community Affairs David Coffman, who oversees the School Resource Officer's Program.
The program works on a point system. Middle and high school students who commit code of conduct violations receive a number of points based on the seriousness of the offense. Points are recorded on the school's intervention log sheet. Each of five students racking up the highest number of points (with a minimum of five points) at each school will be required to meet with a school resource officer (a JSO officer assigned to a school) and guidance counselor who will help zero in on issues contributing to the student's misbehavior. Parents are asked to participate as well.
Parental engagement is an absolutely critical piece of this," Coffman says. "Once we meet with the child and his or her parents, we then try to figure out what's going on so that we can make appropriate referrals to outside resources."
Community resources already lined up to help include the Child Guidance Center, Daniel Memorial, Duval County Health Dept., Family Foundations, Gateway Community Services, Hope Haven Children's Clinic, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Mental Health Resource Center, Youth Crisis Center and dozens more. These organizations stand ready to assist students and their families address health issues, drug and substance abuse, parenting guidance and education needs and much more.
"We realize that these kids are facing all types of non-academic barriers that are affecting their school performance," Coffman says. "We think we can make a difference by helping these students to go to school, stay in school, get a good education and graduate.