Sheriff: School resource officers a huge asset

BALLSTON SPA — A total of seven county schools have signed up to have trained and armed resource officers walk their corridors, Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo said Thursday.

At a press conference in the county office building, Zurlo said Ballston Spa, Burnt Hill-Ballston Lake, Mechanicville, Schuylerville, Shenendehowa, Stillwater and South Glens Falls school districts have committed to the program, which will "promote school safety, foster a safer learning environment for our students."

Each school resource officer (SRO) "will be a mentor, role model, counselor," Zurlo said. "Our SROs will be able to talk to students about the dangers of substance abuse, distracted driving (and) social media, and (developing skills at) conflict resolution."

Each SRO, who will take a 40-hour course with deputies from the Washington County Sheriff's Office this summer, will cost the district $90,000 a year. However, the county will pay 25 percent of the cost. The district will be responsible for salaries, benefits and equipment.

Zurlo said that in the three months since the shootings at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, he has fielded many calls from school leaders and parents concerned about school safety. While the sheriff's deputies frequently stop by schools a few times a day, the SROs will be in the school all day.

Mechanicville City School District Superintendent Michael McCarthy called full-time resource officers "good for the kids, good for the staff, good for the parents and community."

McCarthy said the resource officers will provide more than a safe environment.

"We expect them to be involved with health program, to some extent — opioid awareness, mental health," McCarthy said. "We also expect them to be visible and move around throughout the day in the district."

Zurlo said the superintendents will also have a chance to hire the resource officer whom they feel will best fit their district's needs. All deputies will be thoroughly vetted, the sheriff said. Zurlo's office wants to hire eight new deputies to fill the jobs left vacant by the creation of the SRO posts.

The sheriff pointed to the effectiveness of SROs, noting that just Wednesday a resource officer stopped an alleged gunman in a high school in Dixon, Ill.

"Sometimes we are considered a bad thing; we want to get back a good relationship with students," Zurlo said of law enforcement in general. "Students are our eyes and ears in the school. We want students to be able step forward to talk to us. Students want to learn and not be interrupted. For the student, this will be a huge asset."

The school superintendents at the press conference said the program is the best solution to boost safety without arming teachers — a proposal they rejected.

"We are trying to keep guns out of our schools," said Shenendehowa Central School District Superintendent Oliver Robinson. "If we armed teachers, we would have 700 guns in our schools. That's an accident waiting to happen."