North Allegheny school superintendent proposes in-house police

Creating an in-house school police department is paramount for the safety of students and staff at North Allegheny, said Superintendent Dr. Brendan Hyland.

Under Hyland’s plan, the district’s school resource officer program that uses municipal police officers would be replaced with an in-house school police department, whose officers would be armed, and a chief of school police.

“We can all agree that the safety of our kids needs to be a No. 1 priority,” Hyland said.

Safety weighs on his mind as a school administrator, he said during presentation to the school board Oct. 18. “I feel passionate about this. I feel passionate about keeping our kids safe.”

The school board has privately discussed creating a school police force at least since Sept. 20, when the board held the first of two executive sessions — the other on Oct. 5 — on the matter.

The board majority was interested in moving the initiative forward, Hyland said, so he also arranged a visit for the NA board directors to the Plum School District to its in-house police department. Hyland is the former superintendent of Plum.

Hyland’s plan for establishing a police department for NA was unveiled publicly at the Oct. 18 school board meeting, with the school board scheduled to vote on it one week later.

School Director Leslie Britton Dozier said she didn’t know if she would be ready to make a decision so quickly.

“I do not believe our community has been given enough time to give feedback,” she said.

She is also worried about the effects on vulnerable students and students of color.

School Director Elizabeth Warner said she has received feedback both pro and con from families and teachers regarding creation of an in-house school police department.

“I believe the community is split on the issue. I don’t think it’s a clear-cut issue,” Warner said.

The school police officer would not have arrest powers and generally would defer criminal matters to local law enforcement, according to a suggested job description.

Hyland estimated that hiring a full-time municipal school resource officer would cost $105,000 versus $65,613 for an in-house police officer. He said with one officer potentially stationed at each of 12 buildings in the district, an in-house school police department would save approximately $472,000.

To keep costs down, he suggested hiring retired police officers. Many officers who reach retirement receive a pension but are still interested in working and are looking for a new career opportunity. They already would be receiving health benefits through their retirement.

Hyland, who was hired to lead NA schools in June, said starting a district-based school police department at his former district at Plum was one of the best decisions he made there.

The North Allegheny School Board approved school resource officers at both its senior and intermediate high schools in 2018, when Hyland was principal at NAI. Hyland said expansion was discussed then but “somewhere along the line it didn’t happen.”

The school resource officers at NA high schools are employed from the McCandless Police Department.

“I do think it’s been successful, and I think it’s time we expanded the program,” Hyland said. “We want our SROs to be the good guys.”

An in-house department helps cut down on response time to a threat or emergency. And an in-house police officer can help mitigate the impact of critical situations, according to Hyland.

Hyland said students need to have someone to confide a concern, and the more trusted those adults there are, the more likely kids will open up. Having an officer on-hand instead of waiting for a municipal officer to arrive could make a difference, he said.

In addition to creating a school police department, the school board is being asked to eliminate the district’s manager of school and safety position.

Board Vice President Marcie Crow is a teacher at Gateway School District, which has its own police department, and said she’s never heard a student complain.

“I feel an extra sense of relief knowing they’re there,” she said. Crow also emphasized keeping student wellness is a priority along with safety.

Board Director Libby Blackburn said that the 2012 shooting tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was a “game-changer for me” and that the cost of a school police department is worth it.

“You cannot put a price on a person’s safety,” she said.

Board Director Richard McClure agreed, saying politics should not play a role in this decision. “If not now, when? Have we done enough to protect these students,” he said.

The recommended job description for a full-time chief of school police includes reporting to the superintendent, at 260 days per year. This includes oversight of all district school police and district safety and security preparedness.

A new chief would help hire school district police officers to work 194 days per year. An officer would be hired for each school building and the current school resource officers at the high schools would be replaced after the school officer positions are filled.