Motions for Milford School Resource Officer Die at Meeting
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jordan Fouts-
Ruch proposed allotting $6,000 and later $11,200 to hire an extra officer in order to free up a Milford officer to stay at the school until the end of the academic year.
Neither proposal went to vote and the council ultimately tabled the issue until next month, but not before a series of exchanges with parents, teachers, town authorities and each other.
Ruch noted it would be only a pilot program for the last eight weeks of school, not a permanent solution to the question of security. Money and the availability of extra officers were two of the largest hurdles to hiring a permanent SRO.
“We can’t guarantee we could fund it for next year,” he said, exasperation creeping into his voice as the meeting neared its third hour. “It’s all tax money, and we’re all broke. We’re all trying to do the best we can.”
Council member Bob Cockburn disagreed on the lack of finances, observing that the town began 2013 with $410,000 in the general fund.
“Money’s not the issue. It’s not money. It’s something else,” he remarked quietly.
Cockburn also said he didn’t want the proposal to die without a yes or no, but said he wished he felt more confident. He only expressed certainty over the need that something be done.
“I’m a data person, trends are what to me are real,” and school shootings are on the rise, he said. “As much as I don’t like it, I would like to see someone in there who can defend himself. There’s talk of arming teachers – then would you arm ministers or doctors? That’s not our profession, that’s his profession,” he added, motioning to Town Marshal Rich Miotto.
Council member Dan Cochran pushed against what he called rushing to judgment, and asked what was being done to limit access to school buildings.
“A lot of people are doing a lot of things, and it seems to me we want to make sure we do this right,” he said. “Are we looking at all those things, and I don’t know that we are.”
Miotto said he supported hiring an SRO 100 percent, noting the officer would be a mentor to kids and not just a security guard. He estimated a cost of $60,000 to hire an extra full-time officer, which he said breaks down to 26 cents a day per resident in extra taxes.
But he wasn’t sure where an officer could be found who could work immediately, without having to go through training.
While some residents expressed concern over a tax increase to pay for a new officer, several more spoke in favor of hiring an SRO.
Sue Cockburn, a teacher for 27 years who now volunteers at school, said some kids are difficult to reach and that she would welcome an SRO because “I don’t want to have my elementary in the news.”
Mentoring students can be intense, said current Milford teacher of a class of 14 Amy Evans, and teachers don’t always know what to do. They also don’t have the authority to intervene in family situations that an officer does.
“I don’t have data, I don’t have big news stories, but I do have 14 stories” of students who could benefit from an SRO, she said. “Those 14 different situations represent maybe 40 situations that could be prevented.”[[In-content Ad]]
Ruch proposed allotting $6,000 and later $11,200 to hire an extra officer in order to free up a Milford officer to stay at the school until the end of the academic year.
Neither proposal went to vote and the council ultimately tabled the issue until next month, but not before a series of exchanges with parents, teachers, town authorities and each other.
Ruch noted it would be only a pilot program for the last eight weeks of school, not a permanent solution to the question of security. Money and the availability of extra officers were two of the largest hurdles to hiring a permanent SRO.
“We can’t guarantee we could fund it for next year,” he said, exasperation creeping into his voice as the meeting neared its third hour. “It’s all tax money, and we’re all broke. We’re all trying to do the best we can.”
Council member Bob Cockburn disagreed on the lack of finances, observing that the town began 2013 with $410,000 in the general fund.
“Money’s not the issue. It’s not money. It’s something else,” he remarked quietly.
Cockburn also said he didn’t want the proposal to die without a yes or no, but said he wished he felt more confident. He only expressed certainty over the need that something be done.
“I’m a data person, trends are what to me are real,” and school shootings are on the rise, he said. “As much as I don’t like it, I would like to see someone in there who can defend himself. There’s talk of arming teachers – then would you arm ministers or doctors? That’s not our profession, that’s his profession,” he added, motioning to Town Marshal Rich Miotto.
Council member Dan Cochran pushed against what he called rushing to judgment, and asked what was being done to limit access to school buildings.
“A lot of people are doing a lot of things, and it seems to me we want to make sure we do this right,” he said. “Are we looking at all those things, and I don’t know that we are.”
Miotto said he supported hiring an SRO 100 percent, noting the officer would be a mentor to kids and not just a security guard. He estimated a cost of $60,000 to hire an extra full-time officer, which he said breaks down to 26 cents a day per resident in extra taxes.
But he wasn’t sure where an officer could be found who could work immediately, without having to go through training.
While some residents expressed concern over a tax increase to pay for a new officer, several more spoke in favor of hiring an SRO.
Sue Cockburn, a teacher for 27 years who now volunteers at school, said some kids are difficult to reach and that she would welcome an SRO because “I don’t want to have my elementary in the news.”
Mentoring students can be intense, said current Milford teacher of a class of 14 Amy Evans, and teachers don’t always know what to do. They also don’t have the authority to intervene in family situations that an officer does.
“I don’t have data, I don’t have big news stories, but I do have 14 stories” of students who could benefit from an SRO, she said. “Those 14 different situations represent maybe 40 situations that could be prevented.”[[In-content Ad]]
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