ELKINS — For the first time since January 2023, Elkins High School will be without a full-time Prevention Resource Officer when students return to school next week.

Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon confirmed to The Inter-Mountain Friday that, due to a lack of manpower and to the promotion of Deputy Ethan Carr, who had been stationed at EHS as a PRO officer for more than two years, a full-time officer will not be on duty to start the school year on Monday.

“After a lot of consideration, Deputy Carr has accepted a position as sergeant with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office,” Elbon said. “We hate that he won’t be at Elkins High School continuing to do the great things he did while he was there, but this is an opportunity for him to better himself and his family.”

Elbon said he is currently working with the City of Elkins and Elkins Police Chief Travis Bennett to place one of their officers at Elkins High School on a full-time basis.

Rocky Hebb, who is the PRO regional liaison for Tucker, Upshur, Barbour and Randolph counties, is assisting the Elkins Police Department in obtaining the proper grants needed to fund a PRO at the school.

“We are trying to help them get the grants they need to get a city officer in the Elkins High School position,” Elbon said. “This is a great program that we have built and I hate that we won’t have a full-time officer there to start the year. But with my law enforcement staffing, I just don’t have the manpower to replace anybody right now in that position. I’m just trying to cover our shifts.”

Elbon, who currently has two deputies on military leave and another deputy injured due to an auto accident, said the RCSO will be shifting from 12-hour shifts to 8-hour shifts beginning on Aug. 18.

“We just don’t have the manpower to cover the 12’s right now and keep the 24-hour stuff like we were doing,” Elbon said. “With the County Commission recently giving us a pay raise, we are attractive again for other officers to look at becoming a member of our department.

“Just as soon as I can test again and offer this higher pay rate, I’m expecting to have some certified officers come work for us. And that should alleviate all the issues that we are having right now.”

Elbon said that Hebb and Daniel Pennington, the two other PROs for the county, will help out at Elkins High School until another full time officer is in place. Hebb works full-time at Tygarts Valley Middle/HIgh, while Pennington is stationed at Elkins Middle School.

“My two other PROs are going to cover EHS part-time at the start of the school year,” Elbon said. “They will be sliding in and out of there and doing what they have to do at the school. And Chief Bennett told me he would try and have someone around the school until we get this transition complete.”

Elbon said he and Bennett spoke about the issue with Randolph County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shaw Dilly last week.

“We met with the Superintendent and we’ve discussed our plan,” Elbon said. “They are on board with everything we are doing and we are definitely going to continue to have someone in that position at Elkins High School. I can’t say it’s going to be the first or second week of school, but there will be someone there.”

The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office began the PRO program at the start of the school year in 2021. Carr was named Prevention Resource Office of the Year for the state of West Virginia in 2024.