School Board Meeting Monday 3/19/18 7pm High School Auditorium

Please join me in presenting my proposal to place School Resource Officers in our Washingtonville Schools by attending the March 19th Board of Education meeting Monday March 19th at 7pm at the High School Auditorium. I have amended the proposal to comply with current New York State laws. The Proposal is below for review: Washingtonville Central School District Board of Education To the Attention of: Roy Reese, Superintendent of Schools William Santos, President Jennifer Dellova, Vice President Colleen Doyle, Secretary Kathleen Gualtieri, Trustee Kevin McIntyre, Trustee John O'Neill, Trustee Robin White, Trustee Proposition to School Resource Officers in our schools Each year, our nation’s schools are entrusted to provide a safe environment for approximately 55 million elementary and secondary school students in public, private, parochial and independent schools. Families and communities expect schools to keep their children safe from threats - no task is more important than creating a secure learning environment for America’s youth. This proposition is to place 2 Trained, School Resource Officers (SRO’s) in each of our 5 schools within the Washingtonville Central School district. One of the best ways a school can protect itself against such threats is to have a carefully selected, well-trained School Resource officers on campus. Preferred hires are Retired Law Enforcement Officers as they are permitted to work part time in their retirement and have the firearms training that all police officers receive. This helps SROs recognize the sound of gunfire (telling it apart from fireworks, etc.) and discern whether it is getting closer to the campus. Listed below are details on the involvement and effects of these School Resource Officers. School Resource Officer Roles and Responsibilities: The Johns Hopkins Center for Technology in Education says that SROs have three main roles and responsibilities. One is that of a law enforcement liaison. Another is that of a law-related counselors and law-related educators who develop relationships with students. A SRO's primary role, however, is to provide law enforcement-type services to a school to encourage everyone to follow all of the school regulations. SROs investigate allegations of criminal incidents and make referrals of students to juvenile authorities and law enforcement when necessary. In addition, a SRO can monitor a police radio throughout the school day and has knowledge that helps the SRO’s evaluate threats heard on that radio. Executive Director, National Association of School Resource Officers operations director Mac Hardy, a former School Resource officer, recalls a time when he received radio reports of an escaped convict approximately 35 miles down a highway from his school. Upon evaluating the threat, Hardy chose not to order a lockdown, in part because he received information that the convict was a non-violent offender who had walked away from a work-release assignment. Such threat assessments can be more challenging for individuals who lack law enforcement experience. SROs can also assist the administration in planning and execution of safety and first responder incidents. SRO’s can assist in: • How to create effective plans for multiple types of emergencies (not just shooters) and what such plans should contain. • Why exercising such plans is necessary and how (and how often) to execute such exercises. • How to develop situational awareness, to recognize quickly when something different than normal is happening. • How to quickly evaluate when unusual sounds, events, etc. represent threats to the school. • How to safely and efficiently reunite students with their families after a crisis. SRO Duties: SROs are expected to work to reduce juvenile delinquency rates by establishing close contact with students and to build positive relationships with them. SROs also conduct security inspections, monitor crime statistics and are hired by the local police to work hand-in-hand to help design crime prevention strategies within their respective schools. The ability to work closely with school administrators is a must for any SRO, as is the ability to train school personnel in handling crisis situations. As an SRO, you also must attend and participate in many school functions, including at night and on weekends. With the ability to employ 2 part-time SROs per school, coverage of one, or both SROs can be coordinated to accommodate schedules and prevent overtime pay. SRO Pay and Working Environment In the State of New York, Retired Law Enforcement Officers are permitted to retain their “retired” status, along with their existing medical/pension/etc benefits, while maintain an annual salary, on average, of less than $30,000 per year. Qualified Retired Law Enforcement would be defined by HR-2181. With two part time SRO’s per school, with 5 schools in the district is an annual expenditure of approximately $300,000 annually, which is a .33% (less than 4 tenths of a percent) increase from last year’s school budget of $92,291,918. The ability to hire Retired Law Enforcement Officers on a part-time basis will help reduce payroll expenditure in comparison of Full Time SROs, which requires additional benefits and a full time salary of approx. $110,000 annually. SROs might have an office, but spends most of the day out in the halls, cafeteria and school grounds. The idea is to see and be seen. In conclusion, the expenditure of a small percentage of our budget will positively influence our schools and school safety with the addition of SROs. The benefit of having trained, qualified Retired Law Enforcement SRO’s in our schools to both be a liaison and mentor to both students and staff is invaluable. The protection and proactivity of SROs will deter threats and violence in our schools, making the schools once again a safe, secure place of learning and education. Our current system of prevention utilized by districts all across the county is clearly failing, and our lack of proactive change could be catastrophic. In Best Regards, Diana KyDon A concerned Parent Sources: 1: "H.R. 218: Public Law No. 108-277". Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2013.