A school resource officer from the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department is expected to start at Howard L. Goff Middle School in September. The officer, who has not been selected yet, would not only enhance the security of the building, but will also work with students and staff to continue creating a safe school climate.

East Greenbush Central School District had planned to add a School Resource Officer from the East Greenbush Police Department in the spring, but the Town was unable to provide an additional full-time police officer at this time due to contractual considerations.

Superintendent Jeff Simons then reached out to the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department to see if they could provide an officer to fill the position. The agreement would provide a uniformed police officer from the sheriff’s department at Goff Middle School during school hours.

The new position is modeled after the school resource officer role that has existed at Columbia High School for years. Like Officer Jay Martyn at Columbia, the new school resource officer would be available to provide support and programming for other schools throughout the district. Coordination agreements already exist between the two law enforcement agencies involved.

The sheriff’s department is compiling a list of eligible SRO candidates for the district. Both the sheriff’s department and school district will be involved in the hiring process this summer.

“We are looking forward to expanding our School Resource Officer Program in the district,” Mr. Simons said. “This summer, the district has been involved in discussions with the new East Greenbush Police Chief, Elaine Rudzinski and the Sheriff’s office about ways to enhance our existing school safety program.”