A shared School Resource Officer starts in the Selmaville and Raccoon Grade schools on Monday.
Kevin Berry was trained for the position last summer but isn’t starting until now until the sheriff’s department had new personnel to cover his deputy position.
Sheriff Kevin Cripps says Raccoon and Selmaville Grade Schools are splitting the cost of Berry’s salary.
“The majority of the staff want an SRO there full-time at the schools,” Cripps said. “Someday I would absolutely like to do that, but it would require more manpower. Every police department around here is hurting for applicants to join their police forces.”
Raccoon Grade School Superintendent Misty Johannes is excited to see the program getting underway.
“Safety is the most important thing for any school,” Johannes said. “With our location and where we’re located near the interstate, I feel it’s good to have someone on site. Also, he’ll be here to assess the building to see if there are any safety concerns for our building. He will also be able to go out and do some welfare checks, and if we have any issues with students, he’ll be able to go and check on them. Another thing we’re hoping to have with a resource officer is, we want to foster those positive relationships with law enforcement.”
Selmaville Grade School Superintendent Brittany Boldt is seeking the same goals.
“One of the biggest components is we want to make sure that we’re enhancing the safety and security of our school,” Boldt said. “Something else that we’re really wanting to focus on is making positive connections with our students. We want SRO Berry to be a positive mentor not only for our students but for our families and our community. I think that he’s going to be able to foster a really positive relationship with our staff as well as our students, and he’s just going to bring a positive vibe to our district. We’re really excited.”
Berry is the second SRO in the sheriff’s department. Shane King is splitting his time between Patoka and South Central Schools. Cripps says no other schools have yet asked for SRO’s.
