SRO may not even wear a uniform on the job
F-M High School will be home base for a police officer, starting next fall
Fayetteville-Manlius Schools will be adding a School Resource Officer to the staff, to be in place when classes start next fall.
Dr. Corliss Kaiser, the district superintendent, says it will be a police officer on active duty with an area department, but the SRO is not being brought in to be a disciplinarian, and probably will wear what administrators do, not a police uniform while in the schools.
The SRO will be based in F-M High School, though will work in all the district's buildings. Dr. Kaiser says the job is to help students stay safe: "The bullying, the cyber-bullying, the alcohol and drugs" are major concerns. "And the main focus of a school resource officer is to educate and mentor," says the superintendent.
The hire won't be made until at least July, to give the district time to set up programs for the SRO to be part of. One major effort, the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), goes into effect statewide on the first of July. F-M is doing in-service training, building by building, already to comply with the anti-bullying, anti harassment effort.