(1/27) School safety was at the forefront of the Fairfield Area School Board’s January meeting.
District Superintendent Thomas Haupt presented to the board a new policy that focuses on school security personnel. The district’s school security officer is a contracted employee from G-Force Security Solutions. The officer does not have arresting power so any charges related to an incident need to be filed by uniformed police officers.
Pennsylvania law, beginning with the 2024-25 school year, states that all districts must have at least one armed security person on duty during the school day.
The proposed policy states that the school safety officer must complete appropriate training within one year of employment. They must also undergo a law enforcement agency background investigation.
The officer must also report annually on the district’s current safety and security practices, and identify strategies to improve school safety and security. This report, the proposed policy states, will be conducted at an executive session of the board. Security is allowed to be discussed in a closed executive session per Pennsylvania law.
The officer is responsible for school safety support services, enhanced campus supervision, assistance with disruptive students, monitoring visitors on campus, coordination with law enforcement officials, and security functions which improve and maintain school safety.
Some districts hire sworn law enforcement officers in lieu of school security officers. Haupt said that if Fairfield would ever go that route, they would need to change the policy.
Maintaining positive relationships with neighboring law enforcement departments is important, Haupt said. Another proposed policy outlines the district’s responsibilities to those agencies.
The proposed policy states that Fairfield Area School District will establish a committee tasked with forming a memorandum of understanding with local law enforcement agencies. The district will also ask the agency to review the district’s annual incident report prior to filing it with the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The district will also discuss crime prevention tactics with the local agency, the policy states.
The policy also states the district will report any incidents committed on school property or during a school-sponsored activity to law enforcement officials.
Another policy presented during the meeting dictates that the district will hold emergency preparedness drills, fire drills, school security drills, and bus evacuation drills. It also mandates that the district review its emergency preparedness plan annually.
The board will formally adopt the policies at a future meeting.
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