GALION — The Northmor Local Schools Board of Education were attentive to future decisions to be made regarding school safety and construction.
Representatives from the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office, including Sheriff John Hinton, were present at the meeting to offer the board a chance to gain information on the potential of the district using a school resource officer.
Deputy Lance Plough told the board there were obvious benefits to having a resource officer in the school, but also some not so obvious.
He said besides the benefits of safety in the case of a school emergency, other benefits include the relationships built between the students and law enforcement. He said there is a comradery the forms as students feel more comfortable going to an officer or deputy if they have needs or concerns.
Plough said two other area schools, Cardington-Lincoln and Highland, already utilize a school resource officer.
The board heard that in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years combined, 55 calls were made for the sheriff’s office to respond to the school. On Feb. 21, 2018, Northmor was evacuated due to a gun threat found on school grounds.
The board said it will revisit the item. Hinton confirmed an officer would be available for the first day of school if the board approved the item at the August board meeting.
Also during the meeting, the board approved a lease-purchase resolution to continue to move forward with future construction work to the district’s athletic facilities.
The approval came after a presentation from Mike Burns, managing director of Robert W. Baird and Co. Burns gave a presentation on a lease-purchase agreement explaining the method of financing creates a relationship where the district is the lessor and a bank is the lessee.
The lease is then paid during an agreed amount of time until paid off.
The lease is needed to secure the $2 million needed for the upcoming project. The board has not determined which of two potential plans for the project will be used, but Superintendent Chad Redmon said the board is leaning toward Option 2.
The project includes work to the football stadium lights, relocating the baseball and softball fields, bus parking, resurfacing the running track and more.
The board will hear more information on the project from an engineer at the August meeting.
The August meeting is Aug. 20 at 6 p.m.