Logan staff members want full-time resource officer

Bring back the SRO. 

That message is being sent by 73 people, including teachers, who work at La Crosse Logan High School.  They’re appealing to the La Crosse school board to restore the full-time school resource officer post which has been cut back in the last two years. 

At the Monday night board meeting, long-time Logan teacher Eric Martin spoke for the group of 73 which signed a letter to the board about the resource officer.

“Our SRO is not willy-nilly writin’ out tickets, searching lockers, bustin’ kids,” he said. “Our administrators aren’t handin’ out suspensions like candy.”

Martin says the reduction of SRO presence at Logan has made the school more “reactive” to student problems, instead of “proactive.”

“We agree, in theory, a building probably shouldn’t need a cop in it, but in theory, if all people were angels, we wouldn’t need a government either,” said Martin.  

The district decided in 2020 to reduce the number of SRO’s at schools from five, down to two for next year.

Reductions were done partly at the request of students and others who feel that the officers intimidate some young people, or look for reasons to discipline students.