Albion Board of Education states support for adding resource officer

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 October 2018 at 1:17 pm

ALBION – The nine-member Albion Board of Education was unanimous on Monday in stating its support for a school resource officer to work in the district. The BOE said the details need to be worked out with Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni and the Albion Village Board.

“We’re all in agreement that this is a positive thing for the district,” Brown said after polling board members during Monday’s meeting.

The Village Board last week said it would support having an Albion police officer work in the schools. Chief Nenni said it would cost about $81,250 in salary and benefits to add the officer. In addition to helping make the schools more secure and build relationships with students and staff, Nenni said adding the resource officer would also help the department with its staffing during the summer.

The BOE wants to pin down the costs to the district – how much of $81,250 would the school district be expected to pay? The school year is 180 days and the officer’s full-time workload wouldn’t be fully devoted to the district during a calendar year.

The BOE also wants to know the hiring procedure for the officer, and if a backup resource officer would be available if the person assigned to the school isn’t on duty.

Nenni and school officials met last month to discuss the position. The Police Department used to have an officer assigned to the district until about a decade ago.

The police chief said an officer could be trained and ready to start with the district by Jan. 1.

Medina Central School pays the Village of Medina $60,000 to have an officer work at the district during the school year, while Lyndonville and Kendall this year are each paying the county $100,000 to have a deputy from the Sheriff’s Office work as school resource officer.

Since the Orleans Hub reported last Wednesday that the district and village were discussing the school resource officer, Brown said she has heard mostly positive comments from the community, but she told board members not everyone wants a police presence at the school district.

“The feedback is not all positive and I’ll just leave it at that,” she said.

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