June 27, 2023 |
Photo – CCSD#2 – Courtesy CCSD#2
Carbon County School District 2 will now have a resource officer. During last week’s County Commissioners meeting, Sheriff Alex Bakken asked the board to approve a Memorandum of Understanding to hire an officer for the schools in Carbon 2. Sheriff Bakken said the district’s board of trustees has agreed to allow Superintendent Darrin Jennings to sign the MOU.
Jennings said School District 1 Resource Officer Deputy Joel Robertson attended the school board meeting. Jennings said Deputy Robertson reported that the presence of a sheriff’s officer provided a great deal of security for the school.
Jennings said resource officers serve many roles within the school. The district 2 superintendent said a deputy can help students in a variety of ways, including improving a teenager’s driving ability.
Jennings also said a resource officer would make a good role model for students.
Carbon County School District 2 consists of seven schools. Elk Mountain, Saratoga, Hanna, and Medicine Bow all have elementary schools. Encampment has a K-12 school. Saratoga has a middle/high school. And Hanna, Elk Mountain, and Medicine Bow share a single junior and high school. Jennings said he has no actively enrolled students in the Elk Mountain elementary school. The district 2 superintendent said the proposed resource officer would be required to split their time between the remaining six schools. Jennings described how the resource officer will be scheduled.
Commissioner John Johnson asked Jennings if the school district 2 board of trustees was considering a long-term contract with the sheriff’s office. Jennings said all signs pointed to that being the case.
Commission Chairwoman Sue Jones asked County Attorney Ashley Davis if she suggested any changes to the MOU. Attorney Davis said she made three changes to bring the agreement in line with the county’s MOU with school district 1. The county attorney said two of the changes were simply clerical, adding and subtracting names. Attorney Davis said the final change was a way to determine payment, should the county or school district end the agreement prematurely.
Commissioner Johnson said people may think that a school resource officer isn’t necessary in Carbon County, but he said you can’t predict where violence will occur. The commissioner moved to sign the MOU between the sheriff’s office and school district 2.
The board unanimously voted to approve the Memorandum of Understanding.
