SOUTH DEERFIELD — Frontier Regional School’s resource officer program will continue in the upcoming year.
On Wednesday, the district’s School Committee voted to approve $15,701 for a portion of Deerfield Police Officer Brian Ravish’s roughly $52,000 yearly salary.
The remaining money will be covered through a $30,000 Deerfield Academy donation, a $1,000 contribution from Bement School, with the rest paid for by Deerfield Police Department.
Last year, Deerfield voters overwhelmingly agreed to fund the program’s inaugural year, with the understanding that it’d be covered by other means after that. Ravish splits his 40-hour work week at Frontier Regional School for roughly 20 hours per week, Deerfield Academy for about 10, and Bement School, Eaglebrook School and local elementary schools as needed.
So far, Deerfield Police Chief John Paciorek Jr. said the program has been “extremely successful.”
“This is not about crime, this is about creating a safe and open society,” Paciorek said, noting that he grew up in Deerfield and has children in the public school system.
Addressing concerns that a resource officer program might not be needed at Frontier Regional School because the district is safe, Paciorek pointed out that after students graduate from the district, “we inherit them for life — good, bad, indifferent. My goal has been to improve our relationship.”
The school resource officer’s jurisdiction falls under a memorandum of understanding agreement between the police department and the school, outlining certain standard operating procedures.
“Putting handcuffs on people — that’s 1950s,” the Deerfield chief continued, “we’re in a new age. We’re here to help people. We don’t want to just lock people up. I don’t care about my arrest statistics — I don’t care about that at all.”
In the five or so years he’s been the police chief, Paciorek said he’s charged only two students: one for a threat of violence, another for arson.
In the upcoming year, Ravish, who was also at Wednesday’s meeting, highlighted a few programs, including a Rape Aggression Defense training program.
“Every woman in America should go through this program to learn to defend herself,” Ravish said. “I’m on what they call a R.A.D. high.”
Ravish said he intends to teach every female student who’d like to take the class, as well as faculty at all schools in the region and the local public.
The Police Department has also recently purchased goggles that simulate impaired driving. Paciorek said there will be an upcoming event, probably around prom season, to warn students the dangers of driving under the influence.
Before the committee approved the spending on the position by a 6-1 vote with board member Philp Kantor voting against, Paciorek noted a proposition to fund the program completely next year that’s on the table from New England Patient Networks, the nonprofit behind a proposed medical marijuana dispensary on Greenfield Road. If the organization receives permit approval from the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, Paciorek said they’ve agreed to pay for the school resource officer through a fund, comprised from 3 percent of their gross annual profit.
You can reach Andy Castillo
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