GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central Schools and the Greenfield Police Department have struck a deal to put a full-time officer in the city’s high school, serving as a familiar face for students and an intermediary between law enforcement and the district.
At the same time, Greenfield-Central announced the hiring of a mental-health professional who will be working in Greenfield-Central High School and junior high providing therapy to students; and the investment of $300,000 from its rainy day fund to update certain aspects of its buildings’ security systems.
It’s all part of the district’s ongoing efforts to ensure student safety, Superintendent Harold Olin told the board of education this week during its monthly meeting.
The district has been in talks with city officials and the police department’s leaders for months to reach an agreement to have a full-time school resource officer on hand daily, Olin said.
Currently, different officers provide security to Greenfield-Central Schools on a rotation that’s tied to their city patrol schedules. One officer is always on hand at the high school, and three others split their time among the other seven buildings.
Having a full-time resource officer means students will better know the person providing security at their school, Olin said. It means a consistent presence, he said, someone who can learn about and develop a rapport with students, someone who students can learn to confide in.
The contract the district and city reached is a three-year agreement to have the same patrolman stationed at Greenfield-Central High School daily.
The two entities will share the cost of the officer, records show. The city will cover the officer’s salary, benefits and equipment needs, including a vehicle and uniform, at a cost of $117,000 annually, while the school district will chip in an additional $90,000 a year.
Greenfield expects to move one of its current patrol officers into the position in the coming weeks, officials said.
The officer’s duties will include patrolling the high school during school hours and scheduling three other officers to patrol the district’s remaining campuses. He will also lead any school-safety training and will lead the school safety audit that all Indiana districts will be required to complete in 2019.
Additionally, Greenfield-Central schools announced earlier this year it was working with Hancock Regional Hospital to hire a counselor to work in its high school and junior high school, helping kids in need.
The hospital has hired the counselor, and she should be available to students starting in October, Olin said.
The decision to create the counselor position is in step with recommendations released by a state school safety committee that was convened earlier this year by Gov. Eric Holcomb. In addition to imploring state leaders to make more money available to schools to make security updates and requiring districts to offer active-shooter drills in schools, the committee suggested schools make mental health services more accessible to kids.
The $300,000 the district pulled from its saving is earmarked for improvements such as “replacing antiquated camera devices and infrastructure to support them, improvements to physical security through hardening entrance facilities, providing readily available devices for emergency notification and bolstering the training and support for staff and students through purchased services,” according to a board memo. Specific updates were not discussed publicly.