Each Boardman middle school gets a resource officer

BOARDMAN

The board of education approved an agreement with Boardman Township and the township police department that will provide an additional two resource officers to the school district.

The three-year agreement will cost the district up to $9,000 annually.

The district currently has a police officer stationed at the high school, and one resource officer shared by the district’s two middle schools. Adding resource officers will allow each middle school to have its own. The other new officer will split time between the district’s four elementary schools.

“I feel strongly that our resource officers help keep the schools safe,” said Frank Lazzeri, superintendent.

At its meeting Monday, the board also approved an agreement with the Mahoning County commissioners for the creation of an early warning system for at-risk students.

“The early warning system is to alert us to those students who meet the criteria and to get them extra help,” Lazzeri said.

The program, which is a result of a grant written for the Mahoning County Juvenile Court, is aimed at responding early and appropriately to student mental health and behavioral needs, with the goals of helping students succeed in school and preventing negative outcomes.

The grant provides each district $3,000 for each middle school and high school participating in the program for the years 2015–2017.