National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day Date in the current year: February 15, 2026

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, school resource officers (SROs) are “sworn law enforcement officials responsible for safety and crime prevention in schools”. Employed by local sheriff’s or police departments, SROs work closely with school administrators to create a safe environment for students and staff.

The first school policing programs in the United States emerged in the mid-20th century. In 1948, the Los Angeles School Police Department was formed to patrol and protect schools in newly desegregated neighborhoods. The first documented SROs were permanently placed in schools Flint, Michigan in 1953. Similar programs were then launched in other cities, including Fresno, California, and Chicago, Illinois.

However, school policing programs didn’t truly take off until the late 1990s. The 1998 Westside Middle School shooting in Arkansas and the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado spurred their development by raising concerns about school safety. Between 1999 and 2005, the U.S. federal government allocated over $750 million to hire 7,000 school resource officers nationwide. The program received further support after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut and the 2018 Parkland high school shooting in Florida.

The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) is a nonprofit professional organization formed in 1991 for school-based police officers, school administrators, and school safety and/or security professionals who work to ensure the safety of students, faculty, and staff.

NASRO developed the threefold model of the SRO role. SROs perform the functions of law enforcement officers, public safety educators, and informal counselors or mentors. In addition to regular police duties such as responding to calls, documenting incidents, and making arrests, SROs give presentations on youth-related issues and mentor students to promote a positive image of law enforcement.

In 2022, NASRO established National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day to recognize the hard work of SROs who keep schools safe and help bridge the gap between youth and law enforcement. February 15 was chosen in honor of Archie Hodge’s birthday. Hodge served as an SRO for 22 years and was the only founding NASRO member still active on its board of directors as of 2024.

There are several ways to participate in National SRO Appreciation Day. If you’re a student, parent, or school employee, show your SROs that you appreciate their hard work. You can also reach out to your local government to make the day official in your city or county, ask your local media to cover it, and post about the holiday on social media using the hashtags #NationalSchoolResourceOfficerAppreciationDay, #NationalSROAppreciationDay, and #SROsAreValuable.