When Safety Becomes Surveillance: Arizona’s Dangerous Trade-Off Between Policing and Counseling

There is a growing conversation about school safety in Arizona. Unfortunately, an equally important conversation is missing. Across the state, more funding and attention are being directed toward increasing the presence of police officers on campuses. At the same time, funding and priority for school counselors is quietly disappearing. For those of us leading schools, the implications of this shift are not theoretical. They are immediate, personal, and deeply concerning. Yet the public conversation rarely includes the voices of the educators and administrators who see the consequences of these decisions every day.

The Reality of Safety in Arizona Schools

The push for increased security in schools does not come from nowhere. Arizona schools face real challenges, and school leaders are not naïve about the need for safe campuses. Arizona has recently been ranked among the most dangerous school environments in the country based on factors including bullying, staffing shortages, and limited access to student support services. These statistics remind us that school safety is a legitimate concern. However, safety is not only about physical security measures. Safety also includes emotional stability, trust between students and adults, and the availability of trained professionals who can help students navigate grief, anxiety, trauma, and conflict. When those supports are removed, the environment becomes less stable, not more.

A Moment That Made the Problem Personal

Recently, I attended a school board meeting where a non-renewed school counselor spoke during the open comment portion of the meeting. Her non-renewal was not due to performance. It was the result of state funding priority changes and the decision not to support the position through the district’s general budget. Listening to her speak was both emotional and clarifying. She shared stories about the students she had supported through unimaginable circumstances, including the deaths of parents and moments of personal crisis that most adults would struggle to navigate.

One story in particular stood out. During a school safety officer bullying presentation, a student began crying. The officer recognized that the student needed help. However, the officer acknowledged that he did not have the training required to support a student experiencing that level of emotional distress and asked the counselor to step in. That moment was not a criticism of the officer. It simply highlighted a truth that educators already know. School safety officers and school resource officers are trained to address security concerns. School counselors are trained to respond to emotional and mental health crises. Those roles are fundamentally different, and they cannot replace one another.

Safety Is More Than Policing

It is important to be clear that this concern is not an argument against school safety officers or school resource officers. Many of these professionals build strong relationships with students and provide valuable support within school communities. The concern arises when policing is prioritized while trained mental health professionals are removed entirely. Safety should be built through a balanced system that includes both security measures and mental health support.

When a school loses its counselor, the school does not lose the need for counseling. Students still experience grief, fear, anxiety, and trauma. They still need someone trained to help them process those experiences. Without counselors, schools lose a critical layer of prevention that helps stabilize students before situations escalate. Removing trained mental health support while increasing security presence reflects a troubling shift in priorities and a lapse in common sense.

The Leadership Gap No One Is Talking About

Perhaps the most concerning reality of this shift is what happens when counselors are gone and the needs remain. In many cases, those responsibilities fall on the shoulders of already overburdened principals and assistant principals. This expectation ignores a basic truth about the role of school leadership. Administrators are not trained counselors.

As a principal and as a parent, I care deeply about the students I serve. I will always step in when a student is struggling. But I do not have the specialized training required to guide a student through trauma, grief, or serious mental health challenges. Even if administrators attend a brief training, we will not possess the depth of knowledge and clinical preparation that professional counselors bring to their work. Expecting school leaders to absorb these responsibilities is not a sustainable solution and places both students and staff in a difficult position.

The Question We Should Be Asking

Arizona communities deserve a transparent conversation about what school safety actually means. Right now the conversation appears to prioritize policing. Yet a more important question remains largely unspoken. Are we prepared as a community to say that policing our children is more important than supporting their mental health?

Research and experience suggest the opposite is true. When students have access to trained mental health professionals, schools experience fewer behavioral crises, stronger relationships between students and staff, and healthier school climates. In many cases, the presence of counselors reduces the situations that require disciplinary or security responses. Mental health support is not separate from school safety. It is one of the most effective strategies for creating safe learning environments.

The Tragedy We Hope Never Comes

As administrators across Arizona begin planning for the next school year, many are confronting difficult questions. What happens when a student loses a parent and there is no counselor available to guide them through their grief? Who helps a classroom process the sudden loss of a classmate? Who supports students who are experiencing anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide, or fear following a crisis or traumatic event?

These are not hypothetical concerns. They are real situations that schools encounter every year. Without trained mental health professionals on campus, schools lose their most qualified responders in these moments. School leaders are left wondering how they will support students and staff if tragedy occurs and the experts who are trained to guide communities through those moments are no longer present.

A Call for Common Sense

School safety should never be framed as a choice between security and support. Our students deserve both. Arizona cannot claim to prioritize school safety while simultaneously removing the professionals who are trained to support students’ mental health and emotional well-being. Policing alone cannot create safe schools. Safe schools are built through relationships, trust, and access to caring professionals who understand the complex emotional lives of young people.

Until Arizona’s policies recognize that reality, educators and school leaders will continue asking the same difficult question. Who will be there for our students when they need us most?

Turnaround Unscripted Reflection

School turnaround work often focuses on improving instruction, increasing attendance, and strengthening school culture. Yet none of those efforts can succeed if the mental health needs of students are ignored. Sustainable improvement requires systems that support the whole child. If Arizona truly wants safer schools, the path forward is not fewer counselors. It is more. Because safe schools are not built on surveillance. They are built on support.