Special to 1808Delaware
The newest members at several Westerville City Schools elementaries have spent the past week starting to build relationships in their school communities.
Neighborhood School Resource Officer Ryan Schleve with the Westerville Division of Police, visited the nine WCSD elementaries he will serve at the start of the school year: Annehurst, Cherrington, Emerson, Hanby, Mark Twain, McVay, Pointview, Robert Frost and Whittier.
He stopped by staff meetings for a quick introduction, volunteered to read books or help with squid dissections in class and offered to join students for basketball at recess.
Meanwhile, School Resource Officer Cordell Cardi with the Blendon Township Police Department, spent Wednesday at Huber Ridge and Thursday at Wilder. He greeted students as they walked into the building, introducing himself, complimenting their outfits and answering a frequent question: “Are you a real police officer?”
This year, the district has partnered with area police departments to add school resource officers at the elementaries for the first time, expanding the SRO presence from middle and high schools.
By having SROs at the elementaries, students can build positive relationships with law enforcement at a younger age and grow more comfortable with them and their role as they move through middle and high school, WCSD Safety & Security Director Steve McElroy said.
“It builds more familiarity and trust in one another,” he said.
Also, SROs can provide more support for elementary school leaders and staff, helping out during school arrival and dismissal times, responding to any security-related needs in the building and participating in school safety planning and drills.
To serve the nine WCSD elementary schools located in the city of Westerville, the Westerville Division of Police created neighborhood school resource officers, where three SROs will serve three buildings each. They include Schleve, Officer Adara Mistovich and Officer Brittany Shoup. Due to staffing shortages in the police department, Schleve will serve the nine elementary schools for the start of the year. Once additional patrol officers are hired, Mistovich and Shoup can begin serving their school communities.
Lt. Greg Franey said the neighborhood SROs also serve as a liaison in the neighborhood where they can assist with traffic problems or any other issues that can come up.
“Our goal is to be visible and help solve problems,” he said.
In addition to the neighborhood SROs, Westerville Police created a new sergeant position to directly supervise all of their school resource officers in the district, including Officer Adam Dross at Westerville North High School, Officer Keith Jackson at Westerville South High School, Officer Jeff Dixon at Blendon Middle School, Officer Scott Kirpan at Walnut Springs Middle School and Officer Chad Campese at Heritage Middle School.
McElroy said the school resource officers with Genoa Township Police Department and Minerva Park Police Department serving middle and high schools will support the elementaries in their jurisdictions as needed. Genoa Township School Resource Officer Joe Graham at Westerville Central High School, can provide help at Alcott Elementary while School Resource Officer Jason Berner at Genoa Middle School can support Fouse Elementary.
Minerva Park School Resource Officer Sean Corley at Minerva Park Middle School can assist at Minerva France and Hawthorne elementaries.
As part of the district’s partnership with Blendon Township Police, Cardi will spend one day a week at Huber Ridge and Wilder to provide a visible presence at school and get to know the school community he serves.
“I don’t want to disrupt them,” he said. “If (students) have any questions, they can come up and ask. I’m here to serve and protect them.”
For Schleve, the opportunity to serve as an SRO for the district is a homecoming for him. He attended Mark Twain Elementary, Walnut Springs Middle School and Westerville North High School.
“It’s really exciting,” he said. “Being back in the school where I grew up — I never thought I’d have the opportunity to serve the community, the students and the staff where I went through school. It’s come full circle.”
Through his building visits and interactions with students and staff, he wants his school communities to get used to seeing a police officer in the halls.
“It’s a way to jumpstart and build those relationships so when we’re out in the public like Fourth Friday they are going to recognize us as a school resource officer.”
“Hopefully it makes them more comfortable to talk to other officers.”
