Cedar Rapids school resource officer works to make positive impact on ‘my kids’

CEDAR RAPIDS — No feet left behind. Or at least, not on this school resource officer’s watch.

Cedar Rapids Police School Resource Officer Jess Barnhart knew she had to do something when a shoe drive accidentally sent new sneakers earmarked for students in grades 9-12 at Polk Alternative Education Center to other schools in the district. The officer couldn’t disappoint “my kids.”

She reached out to her family and friends on social media, who she calls “amazing,” to send her footwear for the 40 or so left out. Many of kids don’t often get new shoes, so it was important to her to make that happen. Barnhart said a Marion nonprofit, Honor and Respect, also pitched in and contributed some of the shoes they usually design to support first responders and military personnel.

She ended up with 65 pairs being donated, so the extras are being saved for some students who likely will outgrow their shoes by fall.

  Buy Photo

That’s not the first time Barnhart has gone the extra mile to help Polk students get shoes and, in 2020, even bikes.

“Me and my husband couldn’t have kids, so these are my kids,” she said.

Barnhart, 48, has been a Cedar Rapids officer for 25 years, with nine of those as a Polk resource officer. As a patrol officer, she responded frequently to calls at Polk, so when she had the chance to be the first resource officer at the school in 2014, she knew she could make a difference.

“It just felt like home,” she said.

She said students at Polk might be more challenging, but are not “bad” kids. They just need some extra help and encouragement, she said.

Polk is a school for students with challenges in social, emotional and behavioral skills. Students facing those issues are sent to Polk for more one-on-one help with the goal of transitioning them back to their home schools, if possible.

Officer Charity Hansel, a former school resource officer and now member of a mental health unit, said the resource officers are a “unique, select” group who care about kids. Barnhart is a perfect fit at Polk, Hansel said, because she has more “empathy and love” for its kids and their families.

“She is so genuine,” Hansel said. “She’s constantly thinking outside the box to help those kids make it to graduation. She has former students coming back to her as adults for guidance. It takes a special and unique person to do this job.”

A former student, now 22, recently came to see Barnhart because he upset and angry over his infant’s death. But instead of doing something stupid and going to jail, he came back to thank her, said the officer, almost tearing up.

If she hadn’t become a police officer, Barnhart said she would be a teacher or social worker. She works alongside the school’s therapist and teachers to meet the students’ needs.

Of course, she is also there to de-escalate aggressive or potentially violent situations and keep kids safe. But building relationships also can prevent those incidents, she noted.

Many of the students haven’t had a positive experience with police, Barnhart noted. They may have seen officers only in response to a domestic assault or another violent incident, and so are scared of officers. She hopes over the years she has changed their perspective by listening and giving them advice, going on a walk or eating lunch with them. Sometimes, she even shares her leftovers of a great dish her husband has made.

“I’m always telling them I don’t want to do any paperwork” to make an arrest, Barnhart said. “It’s the last thing I want to do.”

Barnhart said some of the kids have issues about being touched or making eye contact, so the school resource officers are aware of how to deal with these kinds of behaviors.

“All the SROs want to be here to help students — make a positive impact,” Barnhart said. “There are some many things we do every day that can’t be measured on a data sheet.”

The Cedar Rapids Community School District’s school resource program was changed last year and officers were removed from middle schools, going from seven officers to five, after a data analysis was presented in 2021 that showed a disproportionate number of Black students being criminally charged.

Barnhart, who was interviewed a day after the school board approved a new contract to continue the resource officers at five schools — Polk Alternative and Jefferson, Kennedy, Washington and Metro high schools — said she was excited to see the extension.

“I love my kids,” she said. “I hope to be here many more years.”

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com