Jonathan Alder is getting a new school resource officer.
At last week’s board of education meeting, school officials approved an agreement with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office to establish the position within the district.
School officials are currently looking at candidates but no one has been officially announced.
This week, Superintendent James Miller said the job description and work scope had been defined and approved by the board, the next step will be the candidate.
“I have a final candidate who will be a great fit for our district. His contract terms are currently being written out,” Miller said. “I will have more details at the October school board meeting. We anticipate this individual starting with us in November 2023.”
He said he didn’t want to share anything further until those details had been solidified and approved.
Board President Bill McCartney said Alder’s approach might be a little bit different than some other schools in the area.
“The person will be a sheriff’s deputy but they are not coming from the (Madison County) Sheriff’s Office. Depending on who we hire, if they are not currently law enforcement, they will go through the training,” he said.
Many of the SROs in the area were already deputies or officers with one of the local agencies when they took the position, he said.
While the officer would be commissioned by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, the person will be employed full-time by the school district.
McCartney said although the district has worked with the sheriff’s office in the past, as well as having a Plain City Police officer present in the buildings, this is the first time the district will be using a full time SRO.
“This is, to my knowledge, the first, official SRO for us at Alder,” he said, noting the position will be district-wide, rather than assigned to one building.
According to the agreement between the district and the county, the sheriff’s office assisted with the hiring by reviewing applications. The agreement details the sheriff’s role in the vetting process.
“The Sheriff will review applications for Jonathan Alder being considered for a position of security officer, will consult with Jonathan Alder for approval of
applicants for consideration, conduct background checks, other pre-employment
investigations and may, at the sheriffs discretion, commission deputies for
Jonathan Alder security,” according to the agreement. “All deputies assigned for Jonathan Alder security will be certified by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission. The ultimate responsibility and approval for commissioning deputies for Jonathan Alder security will be at the direction of the sheriff.”
The agreement also outlines that all equipment used by the officer, including uniforms, weapons, communication devices, computer systems and all other
equipment, “shall be provided by Jonathan Alder or personally by the security
officer.”
“Patrol vehicles utilized by Jonathan Alder officers will be provided by the
sheriff,” according to the agreement. “Jonathan Alder shall reimburse Madison County Commissioners for the total cost of the vehicle and, including but not limited to, equipment removal and installation, official marking and any other expense associated with the vehicle.”
Those vehicles will be marked like other county sheriff’s vehicles, according to the agreement.
Madison County Sheriff John Swaney said he’s excited to finally get an officer in the school district.
“I’m glad the school was finally able to do it. This is a program we’ve been working on for some time now,” he said. “It’s a good program. It provides another level of security for our school systems.”
While this may be a first for the MCSO and Alder, Swaney said the position would mimic the relationship the office has with an SRO at Madison-Plains Local School District in Madison County.
“It will be very similar so we already have a structure in place,” he said. “It all still needs approval from the Madison County Commissioners, but I imagine there will be no issue. I’m just pleased to see J.A. able to get a law enforcement officer in the district.”
McCartney said some of the difficulty with getting the position set up has been finding the right schedule balance.
“We’re doing it this way because one of the issues of pulling someone from the police department or sheriff’s office is scheduling them into our day,” he said. “Schedules for officers in those departments may not coincide with what we need here. This way, it will be set ahead of time.”
He said the officer’s schedule will essentially follow the district’s school day schedule.