EAST PROVIDENCE — Among the security issues being considered by the School Department in the near term, Superintendent Kathryn Crowley told the School Committee at its May 8 meeting she is holding on-going talks with East Providence Police Chief Chris Parella about the possibility of adding two resource officers at the elementary school level.
While no decision or action has been taken, the superintendent said she and Chief Parella held a wide-ranging conference recently about safety issues. The chief expressed an opinion it would be worthy of their consideration to put two additional School Resource Officers (SROs) in the elementary schools. The officers would split oversight responsibilities for the eight elementary buildings equally, four each.
Superintendent Crowley said Chief Parella was “very much in favor” of adding the SROs to the district. The increased presence would be based in part on the affordability to each division, which would eventually lead to two new officers being hired by the EPPD for regular duty.
Currently, the chief told the superintendent there were some two or three officers on the force who he believed would be “excellent” candidates to potentially fill the SRO positions.
SRO training takes about six months to complete. Superintendent Crowley said Chief Parella pegged the cost to be $14,000. A short residency/internship period would follow.
At the outset, the superintendent said the district would take on the salaries and benefits of the SROs from the EPPD. Also, if the police department experienced any overtime due to the manpower shortage, the district would compensate those monies until new regular duty officers were hired.
Superintendent Crowley said her desire is that the two departments could split the costs at least, each in their fiscal year budgets absorbing the tab of one SRO at the outset.
“We would like to hope the police department could pick up one resource officer and put one in ours,” she added.
“We will continue the discussion going forward as we both prepare our budgets,” Superintendent Crowley continued. “We’re still in discussion. (The chief) has been very cooperative.”
The proposal met with positive reception from the committee, though one member requested the role of the new SROs be defined specifically before being implemented.
“I think we should have an understanding of what the daily activity should be,” said At-Large Committeeman Joel Monteiro.
EPHS security guard
Expected to already have been hired and on duty, a proposed temporary new private sector security guard at East Providence High School was of yet to be stationed at the building, the committee learned last week. The board initially approved the proposal with caveats at its April 10 forum.
Superintendent Crowley told the board due to time constraints, including clarification of the insurance indemnification clause and the availability of legal counsel, the security guard was not hired for the intended start date of April 29. A contract with the company, APG Security a regional firm with a Rhode Island base in Warwick, was now completed and ready to sign. The committee approved the revised pact.
The main responsibility of the guard would be to man the rear entrance of the high school at the door of the teachers’ parking lot. The guard will work 40 hours a week at a sum of $969.60 for the rest of the 2017-18 term only on a trial basis. If hired annually, it would cost the district approximately $39,000.
“We’re trying to use this as a pilot period to see how effective it is until the end of the school year,” Superintendent Crowley said.
Ward 2 Committeeman Tony Ferreira raised concerns with both the process of the hire and the potential additional expense the district could incur.
Mr. Ferreira was not pleased a comprehensive job description for the position wasn’t included in the initial proposal. The superintendent said it has been compiled and included in the contract. Mr. Ferreira also estimated the “true” cost of the guard could rise by as much as “$5,400” if hired for a full year. Per contract, the guard is afforded a half-hour for lunch each day. A member of the EPHS staff, on a rotating basis based on availability, will cover the lunch period. As well, he said another $150 per week should be added to the total expenditure when considering a member of the staff would be used to cover for the guard during lunch.
The superintendent said she understood Mr. Ferreira’s concerns and they would taken into account when the position is reviewed at the end of the term.
“We have to evaluate and see if it works well. I still have some questions about it,” Superintendent Crowley conceded.
EPHS admins
Superintendent Crowley announced veteran teacher and administrator Glen Salgueiro had recently been assigned to serve on an interim basis as an administrative aide at EPHS in support of Principal Shani Wallace. Mr. Salgueiro comes to the high school from Riverside Middle School.
The presence of Mr. Salgueiro was necessitated by the long-term medical absences of EPHS assistants Araxie DeBlois and Greg McCarthy. Mr. Salguiero augments Principal Wallace’s staff, which also includes disciplinary deans Jon Stringfellow, Lian Furtado and Alex Butler. Mr. Butler was placed at EPHS earlier this term. Superintendent Crowley said she would be recommending maintaining a third dean at EPHS going forward.