School Resource Officer to be Funded by Township, School Board

The school district also proposed to pay the full cost of the officer’s annual salary, though the officer would only be in the school for 10 months. The council had previously proposed that the school district annually pay $125,000 for five years. 

Though the agreement called for the officer to be stationed at the high school, Police Chief Richard Borden said the officer could be sent to another district school if the need arises.

“I think we can work out an agreement,” he said. 

Retiring Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder thanked the council, saying that the resource officer would act as a “quasi-counselor” and improve relations between the students and the police. 

Last week Gov. Chris Christie, in answering a question about the Westfield Board of Education’s decision to hire a resource officer, said he was against having armed police officers in schools.

"I don't think that we need to have armed police officers in schools," Christie said, "and I don't think it's a great atmosphere for children to see an armed person walking around the school."

Council President Christine Henderson Rose said that Christie should be sent to “school resource officer training because school resource officers do not serve just as armed guards."

Officer Scott Hobbs, a 21-year veteran of the police department, agreed that when he served as a resource officer he was “more than an armed guard.

“I did not just walk around with a gun,” he said, adding he would interact with students and teachers on a daily basis and develop preventative and educational programs.

Hobbs reminded council members that a student’s trust in a resource officer led to a tip that “foiled” a Columbine-type attack at the high school three years ago.

Though he supported the school resource officer, Councilman Filipe Pedroso expressed concern that the program was “top-heavy” because it focused just on the high school. Pedroso agreed, however, that an officer was needed at the high school, especially in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut last December.

“The board of education is doing what it is supposed to do,” he said.

Schilder said the school district is spending $125,000 to install locks in all classroom doors so the doors can be locked from the inside.

The superintendent also added that the high schools are not “intimidated at all” by the resource officer.

Councilman Allen Kurdyla said the school resource officer program is “very effective” and processes benefits in “many ways.”

The council also voted to increase the head count in the police department from 50 to 51 to make room for the resource officer.