×

Officials seek PRO officer for Elkins High

Schmidlen

ELKINS — Randolph County Schools Superintendent Debbie Schmidlen came before the Randolph County Commission during its most recent meeting asking commissioners to consider hiring another Prevention Resource Officer for the county school system.

The county currently has two PRO officers, Sgt. Danny Pennington at Elkins Middle School and Deputy Rocky Hebb at Tygarts Valley High School. The two officers started working at the schools in 2021 after the Randolph Sheriff’s Office and the county Board of Education came together to formulate a plan for the program.

A Division of Justice and Community Services Justice Assistance Grant that the RCSD applied for and received helped fund placing the officers in the schools. The BOE picked up what the grant didn’t pay for, and the commission also contributed, providing a match for the vehicles, training, uniforms and equipment.

“I would like to thank the county commission for giving me the opportunity to stand before you to talk about a subject of great importance,” Schmidlen said. “Last year Randolph County Schools worked collaboratively with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department to secure two PRO officers for our school system. The ability to provide a safe school environment for our staff and students is always the top priority and the PRO officers’ visibility in our schools has had a tremendous impact.”

Schmidlen said the number of services the officers provide in the schools are countless.

“They provide teaching opportunities in the areas of cyber bullying, social media issues and bullying in general,” she said. “They participate in class discussions that have included alcohol and drug effects and their consequences. They’ve participated in clubs, and have taught physical fitness and agility. The officers provide opportunities for mentoring and counseling for students and conduct home visits when necessary.”

The county’s biggest school, Elkins High School, currently has no PRO officer. Schmidlen said it is her hope that a third officer can be added and stationed at EHS.

“While we are certainly grateful for the officers’ ability to go to other schools when a situation presents itself, it has become apparent that we need an additional officer at Elkins High School,” she said. “This is the largest school in our county and Officer Hebb and Sergeant Pennington have been asked to report to Elkins High School several times to assist with situations that require law enforcement.”

Schmidlen pointed to a situation that happened earlier on Thursday before the meeting, in which both officers had to make their way to EHS because of an alleged threat that ended up being not true.

Schmidlen said the officers make their way to all the schools in the county.

“They (Hebb and Pennington) travel to other schools if needed and have made themselves available many times after school hours when situations have arisen and we need their assistance,” Schmidlen said. “The officers have been in our elementary schools and have classes that teach young students the importance of safety, and that law enforcement officers are their friends. Too often children are taught to be afraid of our law enforcement officers and we work hard to change that thought.”

Commissioner Cris Siler, a retired West Virginia State Police Trooper, said the PRO officers do a tremendous job and are great assets to the schools.

“I for one am very supportive of the PRO program that we have,” Siler said. “It’s very good for relationships between students and officers. The program is an asset to every county I have ever worked in. So, I’m very supportive and I think Dave (Kesling) and Chris (See) are as well. If we can figure out some way of getting this done, I’m all for it.”

Sheriff Rob Elbon told the commission about a new grant that is available that could help with funding a third PRO officer in the county.

“There’s a grant I recently learned about that is through the cannabis legislation, and PRO officers are one of those things you can use to pay for it,” Elbon said. “So I think this is something we can actually make happen.”

Elbon said the grant may not be available to use until 2023, however. Commissioners told Schmidlen they would get together with the county’s grant writer and work on putting together a grant application.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $3.92/week.

Subscribe Today