Spencer will add school resource officer

A full-time school resource officer could be working in the Spencer School District by early 2023 if plans progress and a suitable officer can be found to take the position.

The Spencer Board of Education at an Oct. 19 monthly meeting approved an agreement with the village of Spencer to fund a full-time officer position. The officer would work in the school full-time when it is in session, and help with village policing the remainder of the time. Plans call for the school to fund 75 percent of the approximately $107,000 annual expense, with the village to cover 25 percent.

A school resource officer (SRO) would take on roles of mentoring students, discipline when necessary, and serve as a deterrent to anyone with thoughts of entering the building with ill intent. The SRO would take on the district’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program and attend after-school events for extra security. The officer would then be available to the Spencer Police Department through the summer months and for extra help at other times when needed.

Spencer Police Chief Shawn Bauer has prepared a job description for the officer, and said a search will begin soon to make the hire. The village and school would prefer an officer with a social work/crisis intervention background, Bauer said, and be “somebody with some experience and not just a brand new officer.” Finding the right officer to fill the position will be key to the position’s success, Bauer said.

The Board of Education approved the position last week, with District Administrator Mike Endreas saying it has grant funds and other money in its 2022-23 budget to pay its share. The school runs on a July 1-June 30 budget cycle, Endreas said, and would look to make the position a permanent line item for its 2023-24 budget.

“Definitely we would address this through our regular budget then,” Endreas said.

Village Board member Jeremy Carolfi attended the Oct. 19 Board of Education meeting and said the village is ready to fund its share of an SRO. The officer will be a village employee and the position’s total expense will depend on whether the officer takes single or family health insurance.

Carolfi said no official Village Board action has yet been taken to approve an SRO, but said, “We’re absolutely interested. We’re waiting for the school board to say yes. This is something we’re going to move forward with.”

Bauer said he will be the SRO’s direct supervisor, but the officer will be working closely with school principals, counselors, etc. to address student needs.

“The guy’s going to be taking a lot of direction from the school administration,” Bauer said.

Endreas said an SRO will be involved in student discipline when appropriate, will serve as a conduit with social services agencies, and will conduct home wellness checks if truancy or other issues become problematic. Having a trained law enforcement officer in the latter role will be beneficial.

“I don’t like the thought of sending one of our counselors to a house,” Endreas said.

He also said a police presence on the school campus should be a deterrent to any potential violence.

“Just to have a dog at the door -- that presence is not a bad thing for any potential situations,” Endreas said.

High school principal Jason Gorst said having an officer on hand all day will help with efficiency in dealing with situations. Now, he said, any student actions that involve a law being broken such as fighting, habitual truancy, tobacco, alcohol, etc., leads to a call law enforcement.

“Whenever we deal with those situations, it’s an automatic call to the Spencer Police Department,” Gorst said. “That would be a lot more efficient, just having that piece in the building.”

Gorst said the school will continue to deal with disciplinary issues regarding most student classroom behavior, uncompleted homework, etc.

Endreas also said he foresees an SRO having a positive impact on student interactions with persons in authority. The SRO will be interacting with students in various capacities, and students will begin to see the officer as a positive infl uence, rather than just an enforcer of the law.

“I anticipate this individual being very visible in the elementary school, on the playground,” Endreas said.

Bauer said the village is not looking to have an SRO position to be punitive to those who misbehave in school, but as a mentor to students to identify and rectify at-risk behaviors.

“Our goal isn’t to get the kids into the criminal justice system, it’s to keep them out of it,” Bauer said.