Every parent should take note of the recent revelations that cheating on certification tests has been rampant among the members of the Richmond County Board of Education Police Department.
Mind you, this is not the officers sharing answers on a routine orientation test, but on a test given for their continued certification through the Georgia Peace Officer Standards & Training Council (GAPOST).
This is the certification that gives officers the legal ability to be armed and to make arrests, if needed.
The Richmond County Board of Education has done little to address the matter or to punish those involved–leaving one to ponder how the system would handle a student cheating scheme.
When two officers were discovered cheating on the certification tests, they were suspended, which amounts to a slap on the wrist.
Not only does school board inaction set a terrible example for students, it ignores that there are real threats in our schools. The mass shooting last week in Winder, Ga. is proof that a sudden spate of deadly violence can happen anywhere and at any time.
While we mourn the lost lives of those students at Apalachee High School, we need to face the cold, hard reality that this could have happened to one of our own schools. It is absolutely necessary to have the most competent of individuals looking after our children’s safety when they are not in our care.
The only thing possibly worse than having unarmed resource personnel is having untrained armed resource officers trying to handle a crisis situation when life and death hangs in the balance.
Rather than sweep this cheating matter under the rug, the Richmond County Board of Education needs to take serious action against those who cheated. And members need to be accountable to and transparent with the public on steps they are taking to maintain the highest levels of safety at our public schools.
