Clymer Central School’s Board of Education discussed moving forward in getting a safety patrol officer for the school. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

CLYMER — Clymer Central School is taking the first step to add a school resource officer.

After some discussion at previous meetings as to whether or not Clymer Central School would be able to afford putting a safety patrol officer in place for next year, the school has decided to move forward with interviews for the position.

“In follow up to our last meeting, I did reach out to Sherriff Quatrone and told him we want to at least move forward with the collaborative interview process for the school safety patrol officer,” Superintendent Beth Olson said at the latest Board of Education meeting. “We don’t have a date yet but will continue to follow up with him.”

Discussion at previous board meetings centered around whether or not the position would be obtainable for the next year if it forced the board to take away from other areas in the budget. The position was built into the 2024-2025 school budget. It did force some things to be shifted around, Olson said, but they were able to make it into a line item for next year’s budget. Specifically, this had to take away a bit from the special education contingency.

“So, we basically borrowed from our special ed contingency in order to have that line item,” Olson said. “If we were to get a high cost kid or a couple high cost kids we’re going to have to shift something else in order to cover that cost.”

Next steps for the process are to go through the interview with candidates for the position, which may or may not go positively. The last time Olson talked with Quattrone there was only one person interested.

A question was raised as to what happens when the officer wants time off if there is only one person available. Olson said then the school would be back to having no one for that time.

Other conversations surrounding this subject included the possibility of carrying Bear Spray. Board member Carol Siverling said when her husband attended an active shooter training, the Bear Spray was suggested. Olson said she was told that it is legal to carry Bear Spray but not legal to use it on another person, and that they would have to check with the MSDS sheets because of chemicals in the spray, but adding it would be something for someone to use during an active shooter situation if necessary.