District Adds Security Position Full-Time Officer Will Divide Time Between High School, Middle School In/Around: Cheney

Thu., Dec. 24, 1998

Amy Scribner Staff writer

After four years of discussion, Cheney School District administrators plan to hire a full-time security officer as soon as mid-January.

The school board voted this month to add the security specialist, whose time will be split between the high school and middle school.

Superintendent Phil Snowdon said hiring a guard will free up administrators who currently handle disciplinary and legal issues involving Cheney students.

“We were spending an increasing amount of time doing the legal thing rather than the educational piece,” he said.

The security officer will work sports events as well as supervise students during the school day. The officer will also be a liaison between the district and local law enforcement and will appear in court for the district for any school incidents resulting in charges, Snowdon said.

The $13- to $18-per-hour position will be included in the district’s general budget, said Assistant Superintendent Annette Granier.

District officials have debated hiring an officer for several years and decided to add one “with a great many reservations,” Snowdon said.

“It may provide additional security, but it’s kind of losing that age of innocence,” he said. “It’s like when you first started locking your doors at night.”

But Snowdon said the district is one of the only ones of its size without a security officer. The district includes about 1,000 high school students and 830 students at the middle school.

The officer will be at the high school more than half the time and will spend about 40 percent of his or her time at the middle school, Snowdon said.

Cheney schools see very little violence or gang activity, Snowdon said, although he noted a small increase in gang activity in recent years.

This year, one student was disciplined for bringing a knife to school. A similar incident occurred last year.

There have been no reported incidents of students bringing firearms to school, he said.

But he said the perception among staff has changed recently, with teachers feeling less safe.

Officials in Medical Lake, the other West Plains school district, have talked about hiring a security officer, but don’t plan to in the near future.

“It’s reaching the point where every high school is thinking about it,” said Superintendent Neal Powell. “I wouldn’t say we really feel the need for it.”

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