Perceptions of Rural School Resource Officers on Training, Roles, and Interactions with Students in Special Populations

This qualitative inductive study was conducted with rural school districts located in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee. School Resource Officers' (SROs) and K–12 school administrators’ perceptions of their roles were assessed. Perceptions of school policing from both samples were assessed regarding SRO training, roles, and expectations for working with school law enforcement officials. This also included respondents' views on how students with disabilities are treated. The research conducted in rural Middle Tennessee counties examined SROs’ and K–12 administrators’ perceptions through data collected from in-depth open-ended interviews and a pre-written analysis. The proliferation of police officers assigned to schools beginning in the 1950s (Williams, 1995) added new dimensions to student discipline matters. Students of disability face disproportionately high rates of referral to SROs (Zirkel, 2019; Merkwae, 2015). Often, SROs are minimally involved in creating school policies, leaving them ill-equipped to make informed decisions. The study utilized an inductive reasoning framework to analyze participant narratives (Leedy & Ormrod, 2019; Bloomberg & Volpe, 2008). Themes were identified through bracketing and coding techniques applied to data collected from both participant groups. The study's results added to the current body of research on School Resource Officers and school safety, set parameters for future training, and encouraged positive discipline for students with disabilities. The purpose of this research was to amplify the perspectives of SROs and educational administrators to understand school policing in educational settings better.