MENTONE — Kosciusko County Sheriff's Office deputy Shaun Mudd will join his colleague Rick Shepherd as a Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation student resource officer (SRO).
At its regular meeting on Monday, the TVSC Board approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kosciusko County, allowing the KCSO to provide a second SRO to Valley.
It was announced at the KCSO Merit Board meeting last week that Mudd would be the new SRO at Valley if the MOU was approved.
The county is to pay 20% of Mudd's salary, with TVSC covering 80%.
Valley is funding its portion by using part of a $100,000 Indiana Department of Homeland Security Secured School Safety Grant it received.
TVSC Director of Marketing, Public Relations and Grant Writing Lori Tilden-Geiger shared more about the grant at Monday's meeting. She noted it's the sixth straight year Valley has received the maximum amount via the competitive grant.
The rest of funds from the grant will be used to help digitally map the corporation's schools for security purposes, using Collaborative Response Graphics.
Tilden-Geiger said that would update maps the school already had, due to changes with teachers and rooms over the years and the maps not being "standardized."
Digital maps of schools are also now required under Indiana law, she noted. The mapping will be both of the buildings' interiors and exteriors.
"The coolest part of this mapping is that it's compatible with platforms that the emergency personnel use, so they'll be able to pull it up on their phone," said Tilden-Geiger.
The mapping system also synchronizes with Valley's school safety software, Raptor.