GISD Thanks our School Resource Officers on National SRO Day
School Resource Officers (SROs) are celebrated annually on Jan. 9 for their dedication to assisting in safety matters on school campuses and maintaining a safe environment for students and staff. Georgetown ISD partners with the Georgetown Police Department to employ the peace officers that serve our school campuses.
“The SROs in Georgetown ISD are an amazing resource for our school community,” Heather Stoner, GISD Director of Operations, said. “Their biggest impact is the safe campus environment they promote through their positive relationships with our students and staff.”
In addition to serving as a sworn officer at their assigned campus, an SRO collaborates with school administration as an educational resource for safety and security issues.
“I have been beyond blessed to have the help and guidance of an SRO through some new responsibilities that I had little experience in,” Jennifer Rucker, Ford Elementary School Assistant Principal, said. “Our Ford SRO, Officer Ellis, is always welcoming and helpful, and she does not hesitate to step in and assist when needed.”
The SROs that serve Georgetown ISD represent many different career backgrounds, offering a multitude of perspectives to the school community.
“If you look at the resume of East View SRO, Officer Rishiram “Richie” Ramjit Jr., you’ll find that he has a history of driving city buses in New York City before joining law enforcement,” East View High School Assistant Principal, Ruishi Wang, said. “Through his past career, he became pretty fluent in Spanish, which makes it easy for him to communicate with Spanish-speaking community members and parents.”
“Representation is important in all fields of education, and to have a Spanish-speaking SRO is extremely helpful to our community,” Wang said. “The SROs have a special place in our schools and strive to take care of our students equally across the board.”
If you visit a campus here in GISD, you will see that the SROs are not only here to ensure that students, staff and visitors abide by the law, but to offer a sense of guardianship to our schools.
“In GISD, our SROs are professional, collaborative, student-centered, and solutions-oriented,” Stoner said. “We are, without a doubt, a stronger and safer school community because of their care, commitment and partnership. We appreciate them all so much!”
We are always thankful for these SROs that serve GISD:
Officer Ellis - Benold Middle School, Frost Elementary School and Ford Elementary
Officer Shannon Hall - Forbes Middle School, Cooper Elementary and Village Elementary
Officer Jones - Wagner Middle School, Mitchell Elementary, and Williams Elementary
Officer Rishiram “Richie” Ramjit Jr. - East View High School, the Georgetown Alternative Program (GAP) and Annie Purl Elementary
Officer Rey Rodríguez - Tippit Middle School, Carver Elementary and Wolf Ranch Elementary
Officer Chris Saenz - Georgetown High School, Richarte High School and McCoy Elementary
Sergeant Sanford - Georgetown High School, Supervisor of all SROs
If you would like to get to know the GISD SROs a little more, visit our website at https://www.georgetownisd.org/SRO.
