WATCH: Safe Schools Taskforce Makes Recommendations Following Spring Valley Incident

COLUMBIA,S.C. (WOLO) — On Tuesday, the Safe Schools Taskforce announced their recommendations to change the climate in South Carolina classrooms.

The rapid formation of this taskforce was in direct response to the Spring Valley High School incident where School Resource officer Ben Fields was captured on camera forcefully removing a student from her desk.

After examining school policies as well as educator and law enforcement training the taskforce released a laundry list of suggestions which include uniform training of school resource officers.

Instruction would focus on positive intervention and cultural diversity.

According to Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, “We want to have all our school officers trained in what their duties are you know crisis intervention in how de-escalate situations instead of escalating situations.”

During thefour month inspection into school protocols the taskforce discovered a large disconnect in understanding of school policy specifically regarding the roll of SROs.

Dr. Traci Cooper, Co-chair of the State Board of Education explains,”We want to make sure that they are there to help us handle crisis criminal situations and not involved in the day to day management of student behaviors.”

To ensure the changes, the group is recommending the adoption of a federal definition of resource officer which changes the current description from “advisor and teacher” to law enforcement that handles incidents of criminal behavior.

S.C. Superintendent Molly Spearman says,”As we got more and more comfortable maybe their were times when we were asking resource officers to roles that they really weren’t intended to do.”

In an effort to further clarify roles and guidelines the force is proposing a mandatory annual review of a memorandum of understanding between SROs and school administrators.

“Obviously adults needed to have more tools in their tool box to handle and know how to de-escalate a situation instead of escalating it,” says Spearman.

The Superintendent adds that the most noticeable change will be the student discipline policies, saying, “If they miss behave we want to handle that but do it in a way that’s not going to create a life long problem for them at the school house.”

Creating a positive environment for student safety and learning.