DALTON, Mass. — Central Berkshire Regional School District will not be hiring a school resource officer. 

 

The district was not approved for the grant that would have funded the implementation of an officer at Wahconah Regional High School, School Committee Vice Chair Bonny DiTomasso said at December's committee meeting. 

 

A school resource officer is not included in the budget.  

 

The lack of funding led the Finance Committee to decide to "take no action at this point" during a brief discussion during its December meeting as well, said DiTomasso, who also serves as chair of that committee.

 

In May, the committee voted to send a letter of support for a school resource officer grant. 

 

This vote did not approve adding an officer at the high school; rather, due to the time restriction for the application, it only approved sending a letter to go along with the town's grant application to the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Police Services program

 

Town officials and Police Chief Deanna Strout have been advocating for a school resource officer since April. 

 

According to state law, a superintendent has to request that a police department provide a school resource officer, subject to appropriation. 

 

"We don't want to give anyone here the impression that we're trying to force our way into the schools at all. If this isn't something that we all think is a great idea, I respect that," Strout said in a previous meeting.

 

Strout already has an officer trained as a school resource officer so if the committee decides to reconsider implementing one in the future, she can provide one, the chief said in a followup. 

 

Although the topic was briefly brought up during December's School Committee meeting, members of the committee previously expressed their hesitation on the implementation because there are too many unknowns surrounding it. 

 

The Select Board has urged the need for a school resource officer and, at a meeting in April, voted to recommend hiring one. During that meeting, Strout cited the number of calls the department has received involving middle and high school students. 

 

She has consistently said adding a school resource officer would make the schools safer and could proactively work on preventing issues like underage drinking and fighting. 

 

"It is my opinion that a school resource officer would be incredibly valuable and could help alleviate some of these issues proactively as well as deal with them," Strout said last spring. 

 

 "Instead of pulling our officers off the street to be dealing with juvenile issues, if we had a school resource officer available, they could be doing that."