Chief of police at the North Allegheny School District hired at a $105,000 annual salary

The North Allegheny School Board hired a task force officer with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to serve as the school district’s first chief of school police, safety and security and as school safety coordinator.

Eric Harpster — who has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience, according to the school district — will start in his new position effective Jan. 2 at a salary of $105,000.

The vote on Dec. 13 to hire him was unanimous.

“He is student-centered, authentic and relatable, and I think he will be an excellent fit for this position,” said board President Elizabeth Warner.

Harpster will supervise school district police officers and manage safety protocols, school safety plans and staff training. He also will provide support to each school in conducting emergency drills.

“I look forward to working with administration, teachers, parents and community, but most importantly to provide the safest learning environment for our students,” he said.

Harpster has served as a task force officer with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for the last 15 years, according to the school district. He has participated in critical incident/active shooter response drills and training with federal and state authorities.

Before joining the DEA, he worked with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office and with Pittsburgh Police as a narcotics detective in the violent crimes and firearms unit. He spent seven years with Air National Guard security forces at the 171st Air Refueling Wing with a focus on base security.

He is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and continued his education in the master’s in education program at Robert Morris University.

After Dr. Brendan Hyland was hired as North Allegheny superintendent in June, he proposed replacing the district’s school resource officer program, which uses municipal police officers, with an in-house school police department, whose officers would be armed, and headed by a chief of school police.

“I am very confident that we found an excellent fit for this position and the person who will lead this newly formed department into the gold standard for keeping students and staff safe in schools,” Hyland said in a statement.

A police officer is to be stationed at all schools in the district. The search to hire them is underway, and the positions are posted on the school district’s website, https://www.northallegheny.org. Officers will first be placed in middle schools followed by the elementary schools. School resource officers from the McCandless Police Department will remain at the high schools until the district can transition to police officers.

Harpster also has served as the varsity baseball assistant coach of North Catholic High School and as a youth sports coach for several teams.

Harpster’s appointment is the latest in several changes in top staff that included naming David Deramo, assistant superintendent of secondary education; Matthew Buchak as principal of North Allegheny Senior High School and Dr. Nancy Bowman as principal of Ingomar Middle School.