The Bremen Public School Board took the next step in creating a School Resource Officer.
The school had been approached by local law enforcement to see if there was an interest in establishing that position for Bremen schools. Superintendent Dr. Jim White told the board that legal counsel for the schools, Tony Wagner, instructed that to move forward with the program the board would need to tell the Bremen Police Department they were “on board” with the project and that details would be worked out after that.
Board members were concerned about having input on the details of how the program would be developed and questioned if that would still be the case. Dr. White said that the board would still be involved in the program and deciding the details.
He said that the arrangement would be funded for two to four years at which point the school would be asked to take on that responsibility for the officer in their budget. He did tell the board that currently the position included a vehicle for the officer but if, or when, it was placed in the school he would have no interest in maintaining that vehicle since the school has only one campus.
In attendance at the meeting was Lt. Kris Hershberger of the Nappanee Police Department, who is the Resource Officer at NorthWood Schools. He gave the board a description of his duties there and addressed board questions regarding the position.
The board voted to pursue the program with the understanding that before it was implemented they would be involved in the details of the program and would have the final say.
The current timetable would be to have the SRO in place by the fall semester of 2025.
