The district
is pleased to announce that the inductees to the 2010 class of the
Haddam-Killingworth Hall of Fame are: Frank
Sparks, Robert Baranoff and Michael Kish. These inductees will
be honored at a dinner scheduled for Saturday, June 5,
2010. TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR
PURCHASE at any Region17 school, the Central
Office of the district or on the District's website www.rsd17.org. Tickets are priced as follows:
Adults: $30.00 & Students:
$20.00.
The District learned that state
funding for the State Police School Resource Officer program was
eliminated in the recently adopted state budget. As you may be aware, this
program is seen by many as vital to the school communities at both
the high school and middle school and as such has prompted members
of the Board of Education to contact state level officials. Below, please find two
letters that have been completed for the purpose of advocating for
the School Resource Officer program.
May 21, 2010
Thomas Davoren
Acting Commissioner of Public
Safety
State of
Connecticut
Department of Public
Safety
1111 Country Club
Road
Middletown,
Connecticut 06457
Dear Commissioner
Davoren:
It has come to
my attention that as part of the recent legislative activity, the
state of Connecticut will no longer fund nor support the School
Resource Officer program.
I implore you to reconsider. I am a resident of Haddam, a
tax payer, and Chair of the Board of Education for Region 17. I believe the safety of
children should be the primary concern when making any decisions at
any level. The decision
to cut this program is not in the best interests of children. As a district that does not
have local law enforcement, we depend on the resident state trooper
for public safety. By
removing the school resource officer from our schools, not only do
our students lose the positive relationships established through
this program. The full responsibility to responding to our schools
needs will now rest completely fall on our resident state
trooper. At a minimum,
please allow districts to fund the School Resource officer out of
their operating budgets if we so choose to do so.
Having a school
resource officer working with our students and staff has been such a
positive force in our schools for a variety of reasons. First, in Region 17, we
operate under a prevention model. We feel strongly that having
the presence of a school resource officer, someone students know and
can relate to, is a deterrent.
In small towns like Haddam and Killingworth, our students and
staff have developed relationships with our school resource officer
to the degree that students seek out the individual for advice and
counsel. The Board and
Superintendent often require conversations with the school resource
officer for students who have engaged the expulsion process. Additionally, we have been
fortunate to have a school resource officer who has involved himself
in teaching students.
Because of interests by the students and his willingness to
work with them, Troopers James Connelly and Jeffrey Mazzetta
havebeen teaching a class called the
Academy to students during Lunch Activity. He provides students an in-
depth look at some of the responsibilities of law enforcement and
introduces topics such as forensics and domestic violence. Because of its
popularity and his ability to connect with our kids, it has been
offered three times in the past year. Students have reported not
only interest in the content of the instruction, but have also noted
"seeing the state trooper as a person" and "realizing they have a
tough job to do".
Others have stated they have sought
out Troopers Connelly and Mazzetta with questions or for advice.
When you talk about prevention and relationship building in
communities, this is a critical example of how successful the school
resource officer program can be.
In addition, having a school
resource officer who knows our students and staff can help
defuse
situations which might otherwise escalate. Students who are comfortable
speaking with the school resource officer are more likely to
cooperate with investigations, help the administration identify
problems, and respond reasonably and respectfully if caught engaged
in an activity in violation of school rules.
Without a school resource officer,
small districts (in population; not geography) like ours will be
dependent on the resident state trooper. If he/she is not available,
we would need to await the response of a trooper from Troop F in
Westbrook. The
safety of our children is paramount and as is reported nightly on
the news, our society is not getting safer for children. Cutting this program is not
in the best interest of children or taxpayers.
While I understand the condition of
the economy of the national and state governments, this cut seems
short sighted and unduly burdens small towns. In addition, the
decision was made without communication to districts like our
own. In the long
run, I would like to see the state of Connecticut reconsider the
funding of and support of the School Resource Officer program. However, in the short term,
I ask that the state allow districts who choose to, to fund the
program out of our own operating budget. We are passionate about this
position and will fund it ourselves if need be. Please allow this
flexibility of funding so that we can have our school resource
officer in place for the 2010-2011 school year.
Thank you for your
consideration,
Amy Jacques-Purdy
Chair, Region 17 Board of
Education
cc: Gary Mala, Superintendent of
Schools, Region 17
Paul DeStefano, First Selectman, Town of
Haddam
Board of
Education, Region 17
May 21, 2010
Thomas Davoren
Acting Commissioner of Public
Safety
State of
Connecticut
Department of Public
Safety
1111 Country Club
Road
Middletown,
Connecticut 06457
Dear Commissioner
Davoren:
On behalf of all members of the
Regional District #17 Board of Education, we want to express our
deep concern over the Department of Public Safety's recent decision
to suspend their School Resource Officer (SRO) program, effective
July 1, 2010. According
to our information, this decision was made in order to save a
projected $1.2 million.
Further, we understand that the Connecticut State Police
Department is not willing to consider a cost-sharing arrangement in
order for districts to maintain this program, should they so
choose. We understand
and can appreciate the unprecedented fiscal challenges currently
facing our State, but implore you to consider the value that SROs
bring to our schools and weigh this against these projected
savings.
There has been a significant
investment in training of SROs over the years, and while the
original model may have been one of law enforcement, due to its
positive impact on student behavior and development, it has now
shifted to be a model more heavily weighted to teaching and
mentoring. Over the
past 8 years that our SRO, Trooper Jeffrey Mazzetta, has been
present in our schools, we have witnessed time and time again, the
positive influence he and our Resident State Troopers, James
Connelly and Matthew Ward, have had on our students. We believe that this program
is both pro-active and preventative, connecting students to law
enforcement in a safe and positive setting, enabling students to
know the "human" side which, in turn, fosters respect and
appreciation for these law enforcement officials, their roles and
responsibilities, and for the laws which they enforce. The consistent, familiar
presence of Trooper Mazzetta and our Resident State Troopers serve
to eliminate the foreboding aura that is often associated with law
enforcement, and encourages students to turn toward them for
guidance, further building mutual trust and respect. The long-term effect of
these student-officer relationships extend beyond the school and
into the community at large. We strongly believe
that by engaging officers and students in cooperative, collaborative
activities such as developing safety presentations and training
workshops, and imbedding SROs in student activities, such as
athletic and cultural arts events, assemblies, and overnight
fieldtrips, they provide an invaluable and irreplaceable dimension
to our educational process.
Attached to this email is a video
presentation, produced and directed by our High School students,
which exemplifies the SRO program's value from the students'
perspective.
We strongly believe that the
preventative nature of this program actually reduces the workload of
officers, by means of the decreased need for 911 calls and costly
investigations. This
program fosters trust between schools and the police department,
which can translate into valuable partnerships, contributing to
crime prevention and/or providing aid to investigations. Building these healthy
relationships with students has the strong likelihood to discourage
risky behavior and more serious misconduct beyond the classroom and
into adulthood, further benefitting society at large. This is a win-win for the
school, the community, the police department, the students and their
families.
We are troubled that the 19 school
districts who utilize SRO's were completely blind-sided by this
decision, given no opportunity to discuss the merits of this
program, or even to negotiate possible alternative funding
opportunities. An added
concern is that, as a small, rural district, we have no alternative
form of law enforcement other than our Resident State Trooper. In light of the rise in
bullying and violent crimes committed on school campuses, the added
safety our SRO provides must also be a consideration. We respectfully request that
you reconsider your position to suspend this valuable program or, at
the very least, reconsider flexible funding to allow districts the
opportunity to participate in saving a vital program. We would welcome you to send
an officer to shadow our current SRO so as to witness the positive
impact they have on our school environment each and every
day.
Sincerely,
Robin S. Chassé
Regional District #17,
Vice-Chair
