By Jolene Farley
Representatives from the Rock County Board and Hills-Beaver Creek School Board met for a Liaison meeting Thursday.
The two entities meet periodically to discuss topics of mutual interest to the county and school district.
Adding a resource officer in the school was the main topic of this meeting. The position could be shared with the Luverne school district. An officer would need six to eight weeks of training.
The group Parents: The Anti Drug and Violence Task Force, approached the County Board and the Luverne and Hills-Beaver Creek School District on the subject at past meetings.
The Hills-Beaver Creek School Board would support a school resource officer, according to Superintendent Dave Deragisch.
“It's kind of a proof to the public we are willing to put our reputation on the line, to prove that we are drug-free,” said Deragisch.
“It's a positive,” he said. “It's another resource for students.”
Rock County Administrator Kyle Oldre informed the school board of a three-year $125,000 COPS grant the county could apply for to partially fund the position.
But, since there is no grant money currently available until the 2003 budget is approved, and there is a list of applicants, Oldre is uncertain an application from Rock County would be approved.
After the grant, an additional $25,000 would be needed over the three years to cover the cost of an officer.
Deragisch stressed that the Hills-Beaver Creek district would be unable to contribute to the salary of an officer. It could, however, contribute office space and office supplies.
“My board members … they know what kind of budget we are dealing with this year,” he said.
‘The county is not unlike the school districts,” said Oldre about budget issues.
An alternative, the onset of community policing may free up enough hours in the Rock County Sheriff's Office to staff a resource officer in the school districts, according to Oldre.
The County Board is reviewing the department to determine the most effective use of current man-hours.
Community policing is a whole new method of law enforcement, changing the way things have been done for years.
“It's a dramatic, major fundamental change in how we deliver law enforcement,” said Rock County Attorney Don Klosterbuer.
Patrolling will be evaluated to see if it is the most effective use of an officer's time.
County Commissioner Jane Wildung cautioned that Rock County communities would need to understand that patrol time could be cut down under the program.
“Are they going to buy into it if we give up the patrol time?” said Wildung.
Wildung said the majority of the complaint calls she receives on law enforcement deal with visibility issues.
All agreed establishing a community watch program could help fill the gap.
The Worthington district has a full-time officer in the school with cost shared 60 percent by the county and 40 percent by the school. Deragisch planned to contact the Worthington district to find out how the program is funded.