County Police Officer Honored for Her Work in a Falls Church School

Ilsa Blaney turns up her nose, dangles an imaginary object, her fingertips cradling an imaginary phone between her neck and shoulder, demonstrating the day her lieutenant called to say she had won the Distinguished School Resource Officer of the Year Award. She said she concentrated just hard enough to get the gist of the call from her boss. Her attention was focused on the suspected stink bomb she was carrying out of a hallway in Luther Jackson Middle School in Falls Church.

On May 12, the Fairfax County Public Schools Board recognized Blaney for her efforts as a school resource officer. Blaney beat out eight other candidates from 51 area schools to claim the award, which carries no monetary value.

As a school resource officer, Blaney said her position is no different from that of a beat cop, a security officer at the mall or a detective, all positions she has held in the past.  However, at school she has had to adapt. She has become a friend, a life coach and a mentor to the students and sometimes helping with homework.

Principal Louise Porter said despite growing enrollment Blaney has found ways to forge personal ties with students, particularly those in need of greater guidance. At one time a student was experiencing extreme anxiety, frequently having panic attacks about going to his classes.

“Officer Blaney bonded with the this student and did not let him run from this challenge, often accompanying him to class to help him ease his nerves and realize that he would be safe in class,” Porter said.

The 22-year veteran cop with Fairfax County Police has a fun side too. She has a friendly competition going with a seventh grade History class where she takes the same unit quiz or exam as the students. Any student scoring better than the officer earns the privilege of sitting with her over lunch.

“This time I did not do very well,” Blaney said going down a list of 35 names. “Look at this list of the kids I have to eat with. Usually it is only five or six, but I am happy with it.”

On her desk there is a book of coupons for free small Slurpees at a seven-11. She does not give them out for good grades because, she said, students should be able to keep up their grades without expecting a reward. She has however given out a few to some students who gave her information on a missing schoolmate and a few others to students who come in just to talk to her.

For all the happy times, free sugary drinks and lunch dates with the resource officer, Blaney has arrested students at school, too. When Patch caught up with her she was finishing up paperwork to file larceny charges against a student who took a large undisclosed amount of money from a lost wallet.

Blaney says her biggest challenge is not hearing from parents until students are too deep and parents pulling away when students demand independence.

“My title is SRO and that includes the kids, the administration, the parents and the community,” she said. “I try to be positive with the parents stressing what is important and what is not important. Sometimes I do not hear from the parents until things start to come apart.”

Still, when students find themselves at her door, either through their parents or school counselors, Blaney says she lets them know what she expects of them, whether it is help with homework, advice on smart decision making or just an adult to hear them out.

“It is just a matter of asking if someone really cares, someone apart from their parents whom they are having a hard time with,” she said. “I don’t want them afraid of me. The biggest thing in this job is having a rapport with the kids.”

The package Blaney had in her hands turned out not to be a stink bomb. A student had bought a foul smelling liquid and splashed a few drops near the lockers but everyone was safe. Stink bomb threats or not, she says her current post is the best one she ever had. In a few weeks she will have the chance to test for another position and she says even if she were to test well, she is not sure she would take the job.

“I don’t think I have had a day where I thought I wanted to quit this job,” she said. “Truly, truly, truly I completely love my job. I miss it when I am not here. And I miss the kids.”