Rochester Public Schools approve 6th School Resource Officer

(ABC 6 News) – The Rochester Public School Board is taking another step to keep schools safe.

During Tuesday night’s board meeting, a vote passed 4-3 in favor of adding a 6th School Resource Officer to the district.

Superintendent Dr. Kent Pekel noted that the primary reason for this decision was not due to increased violence in schools. But primarily due to keeping up with the school district’s growth.

“We opened four new schools,” Pekel said. “and when you open four new schools you have an increase in the amount of territory that the officers need to be available for.”

The district says that ideal candidates will be someone who is specially trained to work with kids and de-escalating situations.

“These have to be people that love kids,” Pekel said. “They also have to do work that a cop on the street doesn’t necessarily need to do,

“Meeting with kids, meeting with families, working with social workers to provide services for kids in some challenging situations.”

The school board will now work with the Rochester City Council to find a qualified candidate.

The sixth SRO would start when assign the additional officer through the remainder of the agreement that is currently in effect through June 30, 2023.