LISBON — The Police Department gained Town Council approval Tuesday night to apply for a federal grant to cover most of the salary of a new school resource officer.
Councilors said the move would be a proactive step toward increased security for Lisbon families.
The department has one school resource officer for four schools with over 1,300 students and 225 staff.
“She’s stretched pretty thin to be honest with you,” Lisbon Police Chief Mark Hagan said of the school resource officer.
As recently as 2016, the town had two school resource officers for the three schools in Lisbon at that time. The position was eliminated due to budget limitations, according to council members.
The four-year federal 2020 Cops Hiring Program Grant would cover 75% of the new officer’s salary and benefits for the first three years of the grant. The town or School Department would need to cover the entire salary for the fourth year of the grant, in addition to the remaining 25% of the salary for the first three years.
The department highlighted the need for a second school resource officer in part to help bring back drug resistance education programs to pre-K through fourth grade.
“We have it in fifth grade still, but that’s a lot of grades that these kids should be getting this program for valuable skills of drug resistance,” Lt. Ryan McGee told the council. He also said a second school resource officer would increase safety for kids and families.
“The school resource officer may be tied up at one school with a delayed response to the other side of town possibly,” McGee said. “Obviously if there’s an emergency, clearly patrol will be heading there as well, but we lose that ability to have an officer on both sides of town that can easily and readily respond.”
Councilors noted that the school system has grown substantially since the time the town had two school resource officers. They also focused on the fact that applying for the grant in no way obligates the department to move forward with actually hiring the officer. The town and school would have time to weigh the budgetary considerations further before deciding whether or not to approve the position.
If the department is successful in winning the grant, and the position is approved, the new officer would likely start in the fall of 2021.
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