×

Some Districts Cutting School Resource Officers

The Dunkirk City School District has a school resource officer through its city police department. Pictured is Officer Denise Zentz with students from School 7 in 2018. While Dunkirk is planning on keeping its school resource officer, Cassadaga Valley, Maple Grove, Brocton and Frewsburg have eliminated the position. P-J file photo

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to impact local school districts. In Chautauqua County, four schools have made the decision to cut their school resource officers.

According to Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone, Maple Grove, Cassadaga Valley, Brocton and Frewsburg have all made the decision not to have a school resource officer come September.

“They all wanted to keep them but realized they didn’t have the finances,” he said during a recent Public Safety Committee meeting.

This has resulted in the layoff of three officers. One of the deputies who was a SRO was able to be appointed elsewhere to fill a vacancy.

Right now this fall, BOCES is keeping its two school resource officers. One works at the Academy at Maple Avenue in Cassadaga; the other splits time between Loguidice in Fredonia and Hewes in Ashville. BOCES does not have a school resource officer for its P-TECH facility in Dunkirk. The other county school districts that are planning on keeping their SROs, according to Quattrone, are Silver Creek, Forestville and Pine Valley.

Maple Grove has decided to eliminate its school resource officer for the upcoming school year. This photo was taken in September, 2018, when the school celebrated its partnership with the Sheriff’s Office having a SRO. Along with Maple Grove, Cassadaga Valley, Brocton and Frewsburg have all eliminated the SRO position in the 2020-2021 school year. P-J file Photo

Some school districts in the county have school resource officers with other departments. That is the case, according to Quattrone, with Jamestown, Falconer and Southwestern. Dunkirk and Westfield also have an SRO with their local police departments. Fredonia Central School has school safety advisor, who is a member of their staff.

According to Quattrone, Chautauqua Lake, Panama, Sherman, Clymer and Ripley do not have school resource officers.

Michelle Spasiano, the interim school superintendent at Maple Grove, said the decision was made by the board before she was involved. She said board members did not want to cut the position but needed to.

“We were certainly sorry to see the school resource officer cut but in these unprecedented times, we’re trying to to fill those budget gaps,” she said.

Chuck Leichner, superintendent at Cassadaga Valley Central School, said they were sorry, too, to see their school resource officer leave.

“This was a difficult decision as we were very happy to have this direct connection with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department. But, in light of the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on our New York state aid revenue, we opted to put the money we would have invested in the resource officer’s salary into retaining a teacher instead,” he said.

Brocton School Superintendent Jason Delcamp also blamed the decision to cut their school resource officer on the lack of funds. “Unfortunately due to budget shortfalls projected by state aid and additional expenses caused by the pandemic, we had to make significant cuts to areas of the budget. We tried to maintain academic programs as best that we could while maintaining a minimal tax impact on our local taxpayers who are also feeling the negative effects of this pandemic,” he said.

Delcamp said he hopes Brocton can again in the future bring back its school resource officer. “The SRO program is a great program and for sure we will reconsider such partnership in the years to come. The officers that have been assigned to our district have been outstanding and have worked with students and staff collaboratively to build a safe and trusting relationship. I cannot thank the Sheriff’s Department enough for their support and understanding,” he said.

Even the schools that have made the decision to keep their school resource officer realize they may need to reconsider once final state aid numbers are in. Forestville School Superintendent Renee Garrett said she has concerns about having to make more cuts later this year. “It would be one of our decision points,” she said.

Garrett praised their officer and his relationships he has with the students, faculty and staff at Forestville. “Officer Rich Grant is phenomenal,” she said. “I’ve worked in four school districts. … He is by far the best that I’ve had to work with. We love him here.”

According to the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s website, school resource officers are sworn law enforcement officers who are responsible for providing security and crime prevention services in the high school or middle School environment.

“SROs are Sheriff’s deputies and schools pay for the officers wages. Officers work closely with school administrators in an effort to create a safer environment for both students and staff. This frees educators to focus on education and not police actions,” the website states. “SROs respond to calls for service, document incidents that occur and take appropriate action. School resource officers typically have additional duties to include mentoring and conducting presentations on youth-related issues. School resource officers play an integral role in the public school system and have had many positive impacts on the students that they are involved with.”

If school does not resume full-time in the fall, Quattrone said they will work with the schools to see what is best. “From March to June this year the schools did utilize the SROs for various duties,” he added.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today