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Struthers schools want officer on duty
By jeanne starmack
struthers
The school board is hoping to be able to keep a police officer in the schools even though there’s no more state funding for him.
Officer D.J. Aldish, a Struthers city police officer, has worked at the schools when in session for the last two years after the city got a $56,000 grant to fund a resource officer.
When Aldish isn’t working at the schools, he works as a regular officer and is paid by the city.
High school associate Principal Joseph Fuline told the board at its meeting Tuesday that Aldish has done “wonders” for the school district for security, and as an educational tool.
“It’s amazing what he’s done to help,” Fuline said.
Aldish told the board that in the two years he’s been resource officer, there were 92 episodes in the schools that required police reports.
They ranged in seriousness from a sex offense to drug and weapons violations to fights and assaults to thefts, he said. The sex offense, he said after the meeting, was handled in the juvenile-justice system to the satisfaction of family members.
He said he also works with diversion officer Yvonne Wilson on programs that include bringing in “impaired-driving goggles” to simulate the ill-effects of driving drunk.
The diversion officer’s job is to work with children to keep them from ending up in the criminal justice system.
Aldish said that in his spare time, he got a blueprint of the schools to put behind all fire extinguishers in the buildings so police can better find their way, and he and Fuline are “revamping lockdown procedures.”
“With these numbers, it’s a no-brainer,” said board member Ron Carcelli. “We’ll have to continue with the resource officer. We’ll have to find the dollars.”
Board President David Barone said there’s “no question” of the value of the resource officer. But the school district has to weigh the decision against the loss of funding, he added.
Superintendent Robert Rostan said he and police Chief Tim Roddy plan to talk about what to do.