Trey Strunk, a security officer at Greenfield Intermediate School. GC Schools added Strunk as a new resource officer. Strunk worked at the junior high as a custodian in the past year. Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023.
GREENFIELD — Last Friday, Trey Strunk was sweeping floors and emptying trash as head custodian at Greenfield-Central Junior High School.
On Monday, he transitioned into the role of safety officer at Greenfield Intermediate School and the adjacent Harris Elementary School.
Strunk, 35, is the first safety officer the Greenfield-Central school board has hired to beef up security in its schools.
Unlike school resource officers, who are armed members of law enforcement, safety officers are unarmed yet provide an enhanced sense of security.
Standing over 6 feet, 4 inches tall and wearing a black polo shirt with “security officer” embroidered on the front, Strunk was a formidable presence in his first week on the job.
“The kids were definitely curious, asking questions, waving and giving me high fives. It’s been a very welcoming environment,” he said.
Greenfield-Central currently employs four armed school resource officers who are members of the Greenfield Police Department — one posted at the high school, one at the junior high school, one who covers Eden Elementary and Maxwell Intermediate schools and one who covers J.B. Stephens and Weston elementary schools.
While they all work in tandem, floating between schools as needed, Strunk has lightened the load by overseeing security at the intermediate school and neighboring elementary.
Superintendent Harold Olin said the school board moved to hire a school safety officer after finding that no more resource officers were available through the local police or sheriff’s departments.
The board is discussing the possibility of adding an additional school safety officer this year, which would bring the total number of school resource and safety officers to six covering the district’s eight schools.
“Ideally we’d have one (officer) in every building. I’m not sure we’ll quite get there this year, but I think we’ll have a sixth person hired by March,” Olin said.
Strunk knows from past experience working security details that simply having a presence can deter potential problems, from his physical presence in the schools to his marked security vehicle parked outside.
“Your presence is going to be the number one deterrent,” he said.
Plus, he added, help from armed officers within a half-mile of his post is just a radio call away.
Strunk said his job is not only to assure that doors are locked and buildings are secure, but that students and staff feel safer with him there. He also strives to serve as a role model for kids, and is happy to provide encouraging words if someone appears to be having a rough day.
“To me it seems like second nature, knowing what to look for and knowing how to interact with folks on a daily basis, being the friendly person who can point you in the right direction but also take serious notes making sure everything is locked and secure,” he said.
Strunk has long been drawn to security work, taking his first job managing and overseeing security at a cigar shop right after graduating from Mt. Vernon High School in 2006.
He later took similar posts at retailers like Target and Dollar Tree before working security at casinos in Shelbyville and Anderson.
He’d been working as a custodian at Greenfield-Central’s junior high for nearly 20 months when he saw the job posting for a school safety officer, and he jumped at the chance.
Olin said Strunk rose to the top of the 70 people who applied for the job.
A devoted uncle to two nephews and a niece, Strunk said he enjoys working in schools because he loves working around kids. He’s proud to have a job where he’s tasked with keeping children safe.
“I’m the oldest of four and so I’ve been around young ones all my life. I’ve just always had a kinship with kids, being able to relate with them and talk with them,” he said.
Like everyone, Strunk gets rattled by news coverage of school shootings and other violence reported in the national news, which motivates him even more to keep students safe.
“It breaks your heart. You can’t help but think of your own children or nieces or nephews or grandchildren. Seeing that just makes me want to get in there and do my job,” he said.
