Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
District considers hiring safety officer
DAVENPORT—School safety has risen to the forefront of many minds in the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas in May. New superintendent Chad Prewitt has wanted some type of safety officer in the district, and the various options the district can take to that end were discussed at a special school board meeting Monday, Aug. 8.
The district could hire two types of officers.
One is a school safety officer, who would be employed and compensated by the district and have the full-time job of being on campus interacting with students and acting as a first responder to security incidents within the district.
The other option is is a school resource officer, who would be an employee of a local law enforcement agency (i.e., the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office) and was shared with the school district for campus security and student interaction.
Most board members indicated they would prefer a school safety officer, but Garrett Husky asked district staff to reach out to the Sheriff’s Office to get financial details of a possible SRO before the board made any decision.
Prewitt presented the board with three options for listing the job after each board member indicated they would prefer the officer to carry a firearm. A school safety officer would need to complete firearm training to carry a weapon, while a school resource officer would already have their firearm certification through a law enforcement agency.
The first option was to require the employee to complete a background and reference check, interview, polygraph assessment, psychological evaluation, physical fitness assessment and all 13 required training modules required by the state and provided by ESD 101. Then, once a hire is made, the district would begin the process of figuring out their firearm training.
The second option was to require the above tasks and have complete firearm training before a hire is made.
The third option was to post the position to develop a candidate pool but wait to finalize or offer a job until the Aug. 22 meeting.
The board opted to wait on a decision until the Aug. 22 meeting. Chair Deanna Fitzpatrick said the district should indicate a varying salary in the job posting based on experience, adding the $36,000 proposed salary was too low to acquire a quality candidate.
Husky said he would hope the district could hire two officers to have each school building manned at all hours. Fitzpatrick said she’d prefer to hire one officer and evaluate whether a second officer was needed later.
The board next meets Monday, Aug. 22 at 6 p.m.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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