District could hire resource officer

The Cedar Grove-Belgium School Board could approve adding a community resource officer next month.

Interim Supt. Claire Martin has been in discussions with the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department and Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office for months about the position. The district covers areas in both counties.

While school shootings continue to occur across the country, Martin said the perspective, especially in small communities, is, “We never thought this would happen in our community.

“I think we’re poised to have that attitude here,” she said. “I never feel unsafe here. But it can happen here as well as it can happen anywhere.”

Martin had been superintendent in Chilton, which had a full-time officer.

The board has been supportive of having a community resource officer, which would likely be a retiree who would spend two to three days per week in the schools.

The district is one of two in Sheboygan County without some kind of officer in its schools. Random Lake is the other.

The board agreed last week to pay for the officer through its community service fund, which is exclusively district taxpayer funds. The other option was the general fund, which includes 55% funding from the state and 45% from district taxpayers.

Oostburg pays for its officer through Fund 80, as does Hartford Joint 1, where board member Laura Schieffer is director of pupil services.

“I don’t think it’s a tough sell with our taxpayers,” board member Kurt Kraus said.

Another question was whether the officer would be in uniform. While the board wants to show respect to the uniform, Martin said Lt. Matt Spence of the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department recommended against it.

“This is a position where the relationship is everything, and sometimes the uniform can be off-putting, particularly to students, and they don’t want to create those barriers,” Martin said.

Martin surveyed area districts about their officers.

In Howards Grove and Sheboygan Falls, officers are not in uniform. In Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah, the officer is usually not in uniform. In Kohler, the officer wears a uniform but not the full gear.

Martin said having an officer in school would be vital during a shooting or related incident. While officers regularly patrol the area of the schools and could respond, “The reality is these events are over in three to five minutes.”

Kraus said he hopes the officer would spend some time in the elementary school to build relationships.

“If he can make friendships with kids who feel like they don’t fit in or whatever, then these things never happen,” he said.

“It’s another way to attack the issue,” board member Nancy Niebauer said.

The officer, Martin said, wouldn’t only respond to horrific incidents. He or she could address issues such as cyberbullying and handle concerns in Belgium and Cedar Grove that emanate from the school.

The district would pay for the officer’s gun but the Sheriff’s Department would own it, she said.

The board is developing a job description using examples from the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department and Oostburg’s officer.

If the position and job description are approved on Jan. 8, the job could be posted next month.