May 2, 2016
Some residents questioned whether a school resource officer was necessary in a small, rural school like Pioneer and asked why Northfield — one of four member towns of the district who would benefit from the officer — must front the cost for it.
Ruth Miller, the Pioneer superintendent, detailed the various roles the resource officer would serve, which include acting as a confidant to the students.
Read here
Resource Officer
Thursday, May 26, 2016
“A school that has a police officer on duty is a huge negative in my mind, and I’m against that unless there is a need for it,” he said. “I don’t see any reason. I can’t see how our school or the reputation of our school is helped by having an armed officer for my kid to see every morning when he walks in.”
Read it here
http://www.recorder.com/Sparks-fly-at-PVRSD-Committee-Meeting-Thursday-2425180
Confidant to the students? I can name a number of teachers these kids felt were safety to them and trustworthy to talk to , but whoops thats right Miller fired all of them! I never heard the kids state it was Igor. They liked him but they did not trust him. As for safety and drugs and weapons, well ask the parents of the kids Bacon humiliated and went thru parking lot cars with, Igor was NOT present . Oh and a couple of them kids were removed from the school due to this abuse by the parents. ( Another bad idea by the administration)
Igor is a great guy but he is not needed at PVRS and this is Millers idea and along with the rest of her ideas it proved to be a poor choice and hurt PVRS as far as students are concerned and parents who felt the need to by pass this choice as a school and others looking elsewhere.
FYI -- Kids did not feel more secure seeing an armed officer in the school or the boys being supervised when going into the bathrooms. Not to mention certain children due to race and color were targeted. (Nothing stereotype here going on.) Bacon & Perry did this as well with the females .I was told by many students they no longer felt safe at PVRS and they didn't like going to school anymore. I asked these same students at the end of the year how they felt , a few said I am glad to be graduating or would not come back and others said they wanted to go to another school.
When will this SC realize the destruction this and losing so many over two years has caused?
NORTHFIELD — Based on a Thursday vote of the Pioneer Valley Regional
School District School Committee, the district may be without a school
resource officer next year.
While looking at items to cut to meet the $14.2 million spending plan approved for next school year, eight members of the committee voted five-to-three not to fund Igor Komerzan’s position. Cutting it would save the district about $28,000.
However, it’s possible the decision might not hold, according to Superintendent Ruth Miller.
“There are people in the community that are very unhappy that this discussion occurred,” she said, noting discussion of the school resource officer’s position was not on the agenda. “I think they were feeling a little bit blindsided ... From what I’m hearing, people are going to demand that they vote with all the School Committee members present.”
School Committee members Robin L’Etoile and Jeanne Milton weren’t present, and Debra Gilbert left midway through the meeting before the vote, though the committee was able to reach a quorum.
Since Komerzan was hired as the school resource officer last
summer, Northfield has paid for about $40,000 of his income, not
including health insurance and a retirement plan, according to
Northfield Police Chief Robert Leighton. The school district pays the
remainder, with Komerzan resolving bullying issues, getting involved in
teaching classes, and dealing with crime from weapons possession to drug
dealing.
Leighton said he hasn’t officially been notified that the position has been dissolved, and won’t change anything until then. He said he hopes the decision will be reversed, noting that Komerzan was in fact able to save the district money.
“At one point, a lot of the certifications the teachers had for CPR expired,” he said. Ordinarily, the district would supply training, Leighton said, but Komerzan is a certified instructor.
“He was able to certify all those teachers and do it on the premises, with very little disruption to their schedules,” Leighton said. “And it didn’t cost the school a dime.”
For members of the School Committee who voted in favor of not funding the position, a tight budget was at the forefront of their decision.
However, the position was also approved by voters at last year’s annual town meeting.
“This is what parents and taxpayers want,” Leighton said.
Under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, Section 37P, it is a requirement for a chief of police to assign, in this case, a regional school district, with at least one school resource officer. However, upon written application, a school district can seek to have the state commissioner of elementary and secondary education waive the requirement if the commissioner agrees a school resource officer wouldn’t help the district in ensuring school safety. Or, if the chief of police in consultation with the superintendent determines there aren’t sufficient resources to assign a school resource officer, the chief will in turn consult with state police to ensure one is assigned.
While looking at items to cut to meet the $14.2 million spending plan approved for next school year, eight members of the committee voted five-to-three not to fund Igor Komerzan’s position. Cutting it would save the district about $28,000.
However, it’s possible the decision might not hold, according to Superintendent Ruth Miller.
“There are people in the community that are very unhappy that this discussion occurred,” she said, noting discussion of the school resource officer’s position was not on the agenda. “I think they were feeling a little bit blindsided ... From what I’m hearing, people are going to demand that they vote with all the School Committee members present.”
School Committee members Robin L’Etoile and Jeanne Milton weren’t present, and Debra Gilbert left midway through the meeting before the vote, though the committee was able to reach a quorum.
Leighton said he hasn’t officially been notified that the position has been dissolved, and won’t change anything until then. He said he hopes the decision will be reversed, noting that Komerzan was in fact able to save the district money.
“At one point, a lot of the certifications the teachers had for CPR expired,” he said. Ordinarily, the district would supply training, Leighton said, but Komerzan is a certified instructor.
“He was able to certify all those teachers and do it on the premises, with very little disruption to their schedules,” Leighton said. “And it didn’t cost the school a dime.”
For members of the School Committee who voted in favor of not funding the position, a tight budget was at the forefront of their decision.
However, the position was also approved by voters at last year’s annual town meeting.
“This is what parents and taxpayers want,” Leighton said.
Under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, Section 37P, it is a requirement for a chief of police to assign, in this case, a regional school district, with at least one school resource officer. However, upon written application, a school district can seek to have the state commissioner of elementary and secondary education waive the requirement if the commissioner agrees a school resource officer wouldn’t help the district in ensuring school safety. Or, if the chief of police in consultation with the superintendent determines there aren’t sufficient resources to assign a school resource officer, the chief will in turn consult with state police to ensure one is assigned.
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXII/Chapter71/Section37P
If you think you can pull that one think again, that law was basically made for city and inner city schools not rural. Stop Lying!
When is this all gonna end? Its sad to see a school I attended a few years back to fall so quickly to utter rubble. Why is the school committee not addressing these issues? How sad for Pioneer.
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