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Mathews board contracts with sheriff for resource officer
By JORDAN COHEN
VIENNA
The Mathews school board has voted to contract with the Trumbull County sheriff instead of the Vienna police for a high school resource officer – with one board member accusing Vienna officers of “a pattern of corrupt activity.”
Board member Tom Gifford leveled the allegation in the wake of grand theft, drug possession and other charges filed against former Vienna resource officer Michael Sheehy. Since then, several Vienna police officers have filled the resource position at Mathews High School.
Gifford, speaking to The Vindicator, denied that he was accusing the entire department of corruption. He cited another issue of missing funds that occurred several years ago – an incident unrelated to the school district.
Vienna police “lack leadership,” Gifford said. “I don’t want my child exposed to this.”
“He is spewing garbage,” Vienna police Chief Bob Ludt responded when told of Gifford’s accusation. “He has no first-hand knowledge, and he’s never met with me to discuss the issues.”
Michele Garman, the only one of the five board members to vote against the contract, said the board was acting on “misinformation.”
“It is my belief that this motion is being pushed through due to personal agendas,” she said without offering any specifics. “How many of my fellow school board members have taken the time to meet any of the current officers before deciding [if] they are good for the school?”
With the board’s vote, the district will pay Trumbull County nearly $18,776 for the remaining 11 weeks of the school year for the resource officer, which amounts to $341 per day and $1,707 per week.
Vienna police, who continue to provide resource officers at the district’s two elementary schools, charge $124 per day – $620 per week.
Vienna’s hourly rate is $15.50, well below the $42.67 hourly rate that the district will pay to the county.
“This is a waste of money,” Garman said, “... an extra cost for no other reason [than] some comments may have bruised some people’s egos.”
Maj. Jeff Palmer of the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office said the department is considering creating a resource officer division. It now provides resource officers for five Trumbull school districts in addition to Mathews.
“We encourage them to get involved with school functions, [and] we pick up their overtime costs when they do,” he said. “It’s not charged to the schools.”
Mathews Superintendent Russell McQuaide did not weigh in during the argument between Gifford and Garman. Instead, he would only emphasize the importance of student safety at Mathews schools.
“We probably have the most-protected students in Trumbull County,” McQuaide said.