SALISBURY — What started out as a discussion between school and town officials concerning ways to prevent school and cyber-bullying has led to a grant funding a part-time school resource officer at Salisbury Elementary School.
Veteran police officer Mike Alder has assumed the position of Salisbury's school resource officer. He spends all day Thursdays at the school and drops in other days hoping to prevent problems and deal with those that may arise, Salisbury police Chief David L'Esperance said.
"The focus is to have school staff, teachers, parents and kids have someone recognizable regularly in place at the school to help when needed and prevent problems," L'Esperance said. "Mike's already doing safety checks there. He'll also be working with Sgt. Robert Roy, who's done a great job on the Officer Phil program for years. That's a program that helps the younger kids know right from wrong."
L'Esperance said the department received a $30,000 federal grant to support funding the school resource officer, allowing the department to be able to fund another officer to cover Alder's other duties when he's at the school. The grant has and will continue to pay for specialized training for Alder.
Police are also hoping to acquire more funding to increase their youth-related outreach programs.
"This is a really important position for us. We really want more coverage for our youth," L'Esperance said. "Part of Mike's job is to be at the school on Thursdays, and he drops in a couple of times a day every day he's on duty. He could be dealing with court-related issues like truancy or even restraining order-type concerns."
"I enjoy working with kids," Alder said. "I'm involved with the after-school programs. I help out. I talk with the kids about safety and things like not talking to strangers. They all know me as Officer Mike, and we get along pretty well."
L'Esperance said the idea of having a school resource officer with dedicated school coverage grew from meetings earlier in the year with Principal Jim Montinari, Selectman Henry Richenburg and Salisbury's Triton School Committeewoman and PTA member Holly Janvrin on ways to prevent bullying in the educational community. Bullying prevention is a nationwide educational concern, the chief said.
With the help of school and town officials, a plan was developed for the role of the school resource officer, and a grant was written and funded through the Executive Office of Public Safety, the chief said. L'Esperance credits Salisbury state Rep. Michael Costello and state Sen. Steven Baddour for helping the town win approval of the grant.
Although Alder's role is primarily at Salisbury Elementary School, L'Esperance said, Salisbury regularly works with Rowley and Newbury police officials when needed for issues on the Triton Middle and High School levels.
For more information, contact Alder at the police station at 978-465-3121.
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