SRO Update Provided to North Judson-San Pierre School Board

North Judson-San Pierre School Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin took time during the school board’s most recent meeting to provide an update about the School Resource Officer position.

She noted that the Memorandum of Understanding is currently being worked on so the position won’t be up for the school board’s approval until their meeting in September.

However, Dr. Zupin did say that Town officials already provided their approval for the position at a recent town council meeting.

She told members, “They will pay for the benefits, the equipment, the training, the car, all of that, and the school will take care of the salary piece of that.”

Zupin mentioned that the Corporation has applied for an Indiana Department of Homeland Security Secured School Safety Grant to help fund the position but added that the position has been budgeted for just in case the grant funding is not received.

She explained that the SRO will have an office in each building and will help with altercations, home visits, and attendance and will even be able to cite students for vaping.

Dr. Zupin said that in September, the MOU will be presented and the School Resource Officer will be introduced to board members.

From September through December, the officer will work closely with administrators on logistics and scheduling, review maps and crisis plans and do some walkthroughs with Maintenance Director Wilbur Collins to get familiarized with the campus.

Zupin noted that the addition of the SRO will build on some of the other initiatives related to student safety that were put in place last school year.

She shared, “I think last year we solidified the layers of preventive and proactive; we have the social worker that’s three times a week and we have Bowen Center come in and help, those are school safety measures and so this adds that layer of protection and school security.”

Dr. Zupin said that the goal is to have the SRO patrolling the halls in January of 2020.