Fiona McCarter

Officer Thompson high-fives passing students during lunch

Tucked away in the back corner of Buena’s administrative building sits Officer Matt Thompson’s office. Treasured photographs of family, as well as a “world’s best dad” trophy sit on his desk, alongside the standard computer.

Thompson is Buena’s resident school resource officer (SRO), after the previous Officer Jamey MacLellan retired last year.

Although VUSD has had SROs on their campuses since the late 1990s, concerns over school safety due to the prevalence of school shootings across the country have led to increased numbers at school sites than in previous years.

According to CNN, as of Sep. 10, 2025, there have been 47 school shootings across the country, just in the 25-26 school year alone. Twenty-three of those incidents occurred on K-12 campuses. With active law enforcement on the campus, Buena has an additional layer of safety against these attacks.

While a new addition to Buena this year, this is not Thompson’s first year working as an SRO. After working as a patrol officer for 12 years, Thompson applied to be an SRO when the opportunity opened up in 2017. However, being a police officer was not Thomspon’s first choice in careers.

Thompson initially wanted to be a teacher and had one semester left of college left when the Sep. 11th  terrorist attack took place.

“There was a lot of patriotism that came from that attack on the United States,” Thompson said. “A lot of sentiment about, ‘we’re going to fight against terrorism; we’re going to not be victims.’”

Although joining the military was a consideration, he eventually opted to join the police academy in 2005.

“Whatever maximized the good I could do was the right thing for me to do,” Thompson said.

In 2017, when the position opened up, he applied for the assignment. Along with an interview process with supervisors from the police department, SROs also have to interview with representatives from the district.

“[VUSD] wants to make sure they’re getting a person that fits their goals as well,” Thompson said.  “If you’ve chosen the right [SRO], it’s an amazing asset to the district and to each campus that they work on. It’s important that you put the right person in that role.”

Once hired for the position, SROs have to go through a week-long training program, which is required by the state of California and administered through the California Police Officer’s Standards and Training (POST). The training mainly covers working with minors and abiding by the ‘spirit’ of the law, rather than the letter.

“By the letter of the law, if you meet X, Y and Z, something can be considered a crime. But by the spirit of the law, an officer has discretion to handle [lower level incidents] without making it a huge law enforcement arrest,” Thompson said. “Not everything has to be made into a crime.” 

Along with undergoing training, SROs are also required to wear a different uniform than the standard police officer. Although the uniform still clearly defines the SRO as a member of law enforcement, it does have a ‘softer’ look to it, with the goal of the officer being more approachable for students and staff.

“[The standard uniform] looks more rigid and professional, which is good at times, but the look we were going for with this is more comfortable and approachable,” Thompson said. “Being someone who students and staff feel comfortable coming up to who has a different set of expertise is one of the main ways that I can improve safety here.”

Over the past decade, the Ventura Police Department (VPD) and VUSD have collaborated together to achieve a closer officer/student relationship.

MacLellan first introduced the Curbside Coffee Chat to VUSD’s elementary schools in 2012 after learning about it at a conference. Originally, only the residing police chief and a few officers were present, but today, a representative from almost every position at VPD is in attendance, ready to give high fives and stickers.

Currently, VUSD has three SROs between their 27 campuses. Each officer has an office at their “home campus,” but they take care of all the schools in the vicinity of the home campus. Thompson’s home campus, for example, is Buena, but he watches over all the schools in East Ventura, ranging from Balboa to Citrus Glen. The other two officers are stationed at Ventura and Pacific high schools, respectively.

Thompson’s work at Buena has not gone unnoticed by other staff members on campus, even early in the year.

“Thompson is very personable with the students…he really enjoys getting to know [them],” campus supervisor Leisea Cardenas said. “Sometimes with students, getting to know them and being personable with them is all they need to succeed.”

As the school year kicks off, students can rest assured that Thompson is right here on campus, making sure everyone is safe.

“If I can help increase safety here, [students] can do the higher level functioning stuff, like learning [without] having to worry about [their] safety because [they] know somebody is here specifically for that goal,” Thompson said.