Students in Plymouth Township schools will be joined by a new schoolmate next fall, following approval of a $74,000 expense in the township budget by the board of trustees.
Township Police Chief James Knittel presented a plan to assign a school resource officer next fall available to all the district schools located in the township. He said the resource officer would also be available to private schools in the township once he or she is in place.
The plan includes the hiring of one new officer for the department and then taking applicants for the school resource position from any officer interested.
Knittel said the officer would be available on a daily basis and accessible to all schools in an effort to implement positive interaction between police and students. He noted that the officer would also be on hand when a school faced police required situations.
The officer would offer age-appropriate programs at the schools including internet safety, stranger danger and even personal safety.
One supporter of the program is Plymouth Township Supervisor Kurt Heise, who said the school resource officer was a goal the members of the board set last year. Funding for a school officer is usually provided by the school district and it is a somewhat unusual expense for a municipality.
Heise said the program was an effort of the administration to ensure that all students in the township had an appropriate level of safety.
