Editor’s Note: The Underground Workshop is a collaborative network of student journalists from across Vermont. For more information please contact the Workshop’s editor, Ben Heintz, at ben@vtdigger.org.
by Rachel Ledoux, BFA St. Albans
In the 2021-2022 school year, Bellows Free Academy (BFA) St. Albans, like many Vermont schools, has seen a shift in student behavior. Cases of racist bullying are on the rise, from a racist airdropped meme to an anti-semitic poster hung up in the school. According to students, this has led to a culture of bigotry at BFA. There has also been a rise in bathroom vandalism and a shortage of substitute teachers. This has put BFA in a tough position when it comes to discipline.
One effort to combat this problem is the shift from a School Resource Officer to a School Safety Officer (SSO), on October 1, 2021. This change, which has prompted both community backlash and confusion, has left many wondering, “What’s the difference?”
According to Principal Brett Blanchard, the role of the safety officer is to help staff monitor students’ behavior between classes, before school, etc., in order to ensure students are safe and making good decisions.
“We have around 900 students,” Blanchard said. “So it can really put a strain on faculty if there isn’t a designated person to monitor students.”
Blanchard noted that the resource officer was usually called in to respond to dangerous behavior or issues, whereas the safety officer works to de-escalate situations in order to prevent the harm from happening in the first place.
“The Safety Officer is [a way] of being more active, rather than reactive, in preventing harm,” Blanchard said.
Enter William Westen – BFA’s new School Safety Officer. He had a career working with troubled youth, then worked as a data analyst before coming to BFA.
Westen said his approach revolves around connecting with students and helping them. “My position isn’t about discipline, but rather correcting misguided choices,” he said.
Westen also noted that his appearance can help, looking more casual in comparison to the SRO.
“I don’t wear a uniform or have a tactical belt,” Westen said. “So I think I’m more approachable as a figure around school.”
According to Blanchard, some students “viewed [the SRO] as a person there to arrest people,” which was one of the reasons the School Safety Officer was brought in.
Westen said the SSO is a relatively demanding position, and he has lots of responsibilities that would be hard for staff members to deal with themselves: “Checking the bathrooms to see if kids are vaping, making sure visitors are where they’re supposed to be, that kind of thing.”
“I think [Westen] is doing a good job of trying to build positive relationships with students without being overly judgemental or anything like that,” Principal Blanchard said.
The BFA Mercury collected responses from 122 BFA students on a Google Form, who shared their thoughts about the change.
The most common opinion among students was that they saw little difference with the SSO, compared to the SRO.
When asked to rate their comfort level with the SSO, on a scale of one to five, the the ratings were primarily distributed between one (25 respondents), two (23 respondents), and three (39 respondents).
“Nothing much has changed from the previous visiting law enforcement [from] my point of view,” Sean Baldwin (‘24) wrote.
Some students think BFA should have both an SSO and SRO.
“The school shouldn’t have one or the other, they should have both,” Dominick Brock (‘22) wrote. “An armed cop shouldn’t handle escorting kids back to class, and if an incident, such as bomb threat or shooting incident were to occur, an armed cop being on campus would be a good thing.”
Other students see the SSO as a positive shift from the SRO.
“I think having a SSO instead of a uniformed officer who is carrying a weapon is definitely a step in the right direction, but I would like to see better councilors and mental health providers on staff,” Claire Johnson (‘23) wrote. “An addiction [counselor] wouldn’t hurt around here either.”
Anecdotes from both the SRO and SSO were common in student responses as well. One student, for example, shared a story of the SSO preventing late students from going to class without a late pass, which they had interpreted as harmful.
According to the student, one morning at 8:45, 30 minutes past when school had started, over 100 students were gathered in the Connector waiting for late passes. Students tried to get to class by walking out, but were blocked by the SSO. The student noted that it hasn’t happened since, but that they’re still upset about it.
“I still resent someone who can’t bend the rules even slightly towards someone who wanted to get to class at a reasonable time,” the student said.
Westen, however, explained that he isn’t here to judge students or get them in trouble, just to support them and keep community members safe.
“My goal is to make sure BFA students and staff are safe from any type of threat,” Westen said. “Socially, emotionally, academically and physically safe.”