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From what I can tell, protection is definitely part of their job, at least in TX.
They are fully commissioned LEOs and are issued firearms and body armor.
Here's a job req for a SRO in TX.
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I'd agree what you describe for an SRO is a fine ideal . It may be a description of what is needed. No argument.
What I am about to say is not meant to disrespect ANYONE. No disrespect to SRO's. I'll pre-emptively say there are a number of critical cases where Women Officers rose to the occasion. IIRC, maybe the Washington DC assault on the baseball team. The Ft Hood shootings. The New Life Church.
I know of a couple of Silver Stars earned by Women. IIRC,one was a SGT who took action and busted an ambush and the other was a Medic.
There are Women who will pick up a broom and beat a Grizzly Bear down to a greasy spot if it threatens the kids. There are Women Teachers who did all they could do for the kids by absorbing bullets. I'm not disrespecting the Woman Warrior. And I'm sure Rhonda Rousey could whoop me quick.
Hiring practices have evolved. Today, LEO career opportunities are open to soccer Moms.
There are Officer who are just aging. Not ready to retire but looking forward to it. Dad Bod and all.
These useful People may be assigned as Community Service Officers ,DARE officers,or SRO's.
There are only so many cops to choose from. It would be great if our military could have 80,000 Special Forces and SEALS. Where do you find them? Every Football team could use an Elway or a Manning or that guy who deflates his balls...Whats his name? Where do you buy those?
You are the Chief of Police. You have 63 Officers. What criteria do you use to decide who is assigned 10 SRO positions?
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TunnelRat : Some schools are VERY disorienting! I agree. The person who will know the school building, every breaker panel,valve, closet, roof access hatch, ladder, under floor hatch, key,and lock is the Custodian.
The Custodian even knows where to look for a donut or slice of pizza.
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The schools I worked in had relatively sophisticated alarm systems. I'd arm the system as I went out the door to go home. Except sometimes there would be a fault. I had to figure out what was wrong. One night,it was motion in the rooms. Thats a little spooky. I worked alone at night. The control panel told me the room.
The teacher had hung CD's,DVDs by threads from the ceiling. When the heat came on the airflow would move them . That would trigger the motion sensor. It took a while for me to see it.
The potentially useful point: I'm not an alarm tech. Potentially,the security alarm system could be used to determine which rooms have motion. I'd guess the potential victims would tend to be still and the shooter would be moving.
Door ajar faults can show movement. Between camera,audio, and motion sensors all feeding a monitor and control panel, a lot of info would be available. It can save time. Some schools are a basement and three floors.
While system software may not currently support this use, it can be developed as a responder tool.