ICASE 2016 SRO Event
School Resource Officers (SROs) and Special Education: Working Together to Help Students Succeed
D.J. Schoeff, – School Resource Officer, Carmel High School & Vice President – National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO)
October 5, 2016 10:00-2:00
Sheraton at Keystone, Indianapolis
In this 4 hour session, the historical education of both SROs and Special Educators will be examined and tools to merge the two together to better serve our children will be discussed. The root desire of both parties will be identified and similarities will be captured to better collaborate on a proactive process. The role of the SRO along with selection and training will be examined. Recommended practices will be presented regarding the functions of the SRO inside the special education environment. Attendees will learn the functions of a successfully trained SRO and be empowered to further communicate with their SRO to enhance their program.
Presenter: D.J. Schoeff
D.J. has been with the Carmel Police Department since 2004. Since 2008, D.J. has served as a School Resource Officer within one of the largest school districts in Indiana. D.J. currently serves Carmel High School, a facility over 1 million sq. ft. in size and a student population of over 5,000. D.J. has been a member of the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) since 2008, serving as Region 5 Director from 2012 to 2016 covering the States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri. In 2016, D.J. was elected as the 2nd Vice President of NASRO. This position is a progressive position, so D.J. will serve a term of President of NASRO beginning in 2020. D.J. is the Chairman of the Training Committee for NASRO bringing his years of corporate training into the realm of training SROs. During his time as Chairman, D.J. managed the development of a new Basic SRO curriculum as well as established a new instructor development process to ensure the highest quality training for SROs. D.J. has continually promoted the development of high quality instructors for NASRO. Within the State of Indiana, D.J. served as the Secretary of the Indiana School Resource Officers Association (INSROA) from 2012 to 2016. He worked closely with Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Legislators to write successful legislation funding millions of dollars for SROs and school safety technology. D.J. testified to a Senate committee encouraging the legislation to better assist the success of youth. The resulting grant is still being funded adding hundreds of new SROs in Indiana over the last several years. D.J. worked directly with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute in developing an SRO app to assist SROs in documenting the work they are doing. D.J. is passionate about having a servant mindset in the school setting. The result has been countless positive relationships developed with the youth in the State of Indiana and across the Country. The Carmel Police Department SRO Unit was named Model Agency in 2012 by NASRO identifying them as one of the national leaders and example of a successful SRO program. D.J. works very proactively in the area of the special education classroom by spending quality time with the students building positive relationships to encourage student success. This has proven successful in de-escalating issues that arise in the classroom and improving the relationship between law enforcement and the community.
