LOWVILLE, New York (WWNY) – A deal has been struck between Lewis County and some of the county’s school districts for school resource officers.
This week, the county Board of Legislators unanimously approved agreements which let Harrisville and South Lewis keep their resource officers, and let Copenhagen Central hire one.
The contract now allows those schools to cover the salary and health insurance costs for a resource officer as long as they work in that position for a full year, including summer school.
The county will pay for what’s called “legacy costs”, which occur after an officer retires and tend to grow over time.
“The schools have excellent partners through this whole thing,” said county legislator Ian Gilbert, who chairs the General Services committee.
“I think everybody had to give a little bit but in the end we ended up with something were all happy with and that’s why it was able to pass with our board.”
Gilbert says the new deal will still allow officers to report to the sheriff for recreational patrol when students aren’t in school, like the Christmas holiday or spring vacation.
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