County ok’s SRO agreement changes

BY STACI WILSON

The county commissioners okayed an updated memorandum of understanding between the district attorney’s office and the Blue Ridge School District at the meeting held Thursday, April 26.

District Attorney Marion O’Malley said the new MOU reflects changes in the School Resource Officer salary, as well as his availability to work at afterschool events.

O’Malley said the changes came about based on negotiations between the current SRO Greg Deck and the Blue Ridge School District.

SRO Deck is a county detective and retired Pennsylvania State Police investigator. Although an employee of the county, the arrangement with Blue Ridge provides for his salary to be covered by the district.

O’Malley said the arrangement with Blue Ridge is working well and that other school districts in the county are looking at the possibility of adding a School Resource Officer in their buildings but added that she was not sure where those discussions were at with the school boards.

The exception, O’Malley added, was Susquehanna Community who contracts for security with the Lanesboro Police Department.

In an update regarding an issue with the sewer line at the county jail, Commissioner Alan Hall said an inmate had flushed a shirt and socks down a toilet. The problem was cleared in about six hours, he said, and restrooms had been made available to the inmates.

Hall also said the county was looking into a way to mark the clothing so that people involved in any future issues could be charged with institutional vandalism.

Hall also announced the 4-H Educator hired by Penn State Extension in the county had resigned; adding that, “there are no full-time people in the county, again,” based in the Extension office.

Hall questioned Penn State’s ability to run the program effectively in the county. He said the commissioners could look at bringing management of it back to the county level. Registration in 4-H, he said, is down this year.

The county pays about $130,000 a year to Penn State for the Extension programming; and Hall said the cost to run the programs in-house would be about $200,000.