Resource officer returning to Elkins School Districts after two-year absence
Posted on Sunday, January 28, 2007
The Elkins School District is following the lead of other schools in Washington County by re-implementing a student resource officer program.
“ We had a student resource officer in the past, but he left about two years ago, ” Robert Allen, Elkins School District superintendent, said. “ It’s always been our intent to reinstitute the program at some point, but we felt like there were some things that needed to be worked out first. We needed to do some updating of the job description. ”
Allen said school board members authorized the district to enter into an agreement with the City of Elkins during a meeting Friday.
“ Nothing has really happened to make us need a resource officer, it’s just something we’ve talked about doing for a while, ” he said. “ School rules are basically handled by teachers and administration. He would obviously be there to handle any law violations, but he’s also there as more of an educational component. He’ll be instituting some anti-drug programs that we felt really needed to be put back in the schools. ”
Allen said Officer Bill Rhodes of the Elkins Police Department will begin his first day of work Feb. 1.
“ To be honest, it’s going to be a new experience for me, ” Rhodes, who’s been with the Elkins Police Department for about two-and-a-half years, said. “ My main job will be making contact with all the kids and being a good role model. I’ll also be doing some classes on drug prevention, anger management and life skills. ”
Before working for the Elkins Police Department, Rhodes worked for Vista Health for six years as a Lead Psych Tech for adult adolescent children. He also holds a degree in Criminal Justice. Rhodes is a native from Rhode Island where he worked with school children for eight years as a recreation supervisor.
Allen listed the goals of the school resource officer program: “ maintain a safe and secure environment on campus that will be conducive to learning, establishing a positive working relationship in a cooperative effort to prevent juvenile delinquency and assist in student development; and promote positive attitudes regarding the police role in society and to inform students of their rights and responsibilities as lawful citizens. ” Allen said the Elkins School District was one of the few schools in Washington County without a school resource officer.
“ We first started the program in 2000, around the time of the Columbine and Jonesboro school shootings, ” he said. “ We instituted it pretty quickly without addressing some of the specific descriptions of the job. After the last resource officer left, we didn’t have anyone to immediately fill his spot. We decided to put the position on hold while we worked out some of the specifics. ”
Allen said the new resource officer will be in charge of patrolling the entire school district.
“ We haven’t had any problems in the past because the police department is just a couple hundred feet away, ” he said. “ But we still wanted to implement a constant police presence in the schools. That’s why it’s going to be a districtwide program. We have four schools that are in walking distance of each other. He’ll make the rounds each day and be wherever he’s needed. ”
Allen said the cost of the resource officer program will be equally split between the school and the police department.
“ He’ll report to me during the school day, as well as the police chief because he’s the ultimate supervisor, ” he said.
Greenland Police Chief Gary Ricker said most schools in Washington County share the cost of the school resource officer program with the police department.
“ It seems like the bigger the town, the smaller the cost is for schools, ” he said. “ The Greenland School District pays for 75 percent and the police department pays for 25 percent. Hopefully it will stay that way. ”
Fayetteville police have provided officer assistance to local schools for nearly 10 years. But earlier this school year, officers were taken out of the schools due to issues regarding manpower and money constraints.
“ It used to be paid for by a grant, but that money ran out, ” Fayetteville Police Chief Greg Tabor said. “ In October, we actually worked out a deal where there was some cost sharing with the school. They paid for the officers ’ salaries and we paid for their benefits and equipment. ”
The Fayetteville Police Department currently provides two resource officers to Fayetteville High School.
“ The school would like to have two more, but we don’t have the people to spare right now, ” Tabor said. “ The original plan was to have one officer at each of the junior high schools, but currently we have people gone on military leave and we don’t know how many more might be called out. ”
Johnny Foster, a school resource officer for Fayetteville High School, said the resource officer program has had a noticeable impact on the school.
“ At the beginning of the [school ] year, we got pulled out of the schools, ” he said. “ It was about five to six weeks into the school year before we came back. When we first came back, there were lots of fights during the first two weeks and we arrested eight to ten students for fighting. Since then the actual violence has been relatively low and we’ve only had to arrest three or four students. We went through a little stretch where I had six drug arrests in one week, but that’s gone down a lot. ”
Foster said his routine at the high school varies from day to day.
“ On a daily basis, we respond to anything from fights to criminal mischief to theft, ” he said. “ We also help with traffic. We leave our office door open. It’s real common for kids to come in and tell us about something that might be going on or something that may have been stolen. ”
Lincoln Superintendent Jim Lewis said school resource officers not only enforce laws on campus, but also prevent many crimes from occurring.
“(The officer ) gets to know the students by going to their classrooms, doing presentations, going to ball games and working with the administration, ” Lewis said. “(The officer ) also assists during lunch periods when the kids have a bit more freedom — (the officer’s ) there to interact with them. ”
Lewis said the Lincoln School District pays the resource officer’s beginning salary. The city makes up for the rest.
Farmington Superintendent Ron Wright said he too has seen a positive impact from the school resource officer program.
“ We’ve had a school resource officer since before I came here five years ago, ” he said. “ One of the benefits I see, is that our resource officer is a liaison between the school district and the police department. He develops a relationship with the kids. Whether something happens at the school or in the community, he gets to the bottom of stuff. He also helps us with traffic before and after school. ”
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