The Loyalsock Township School District has never had a police officer stationed at its schools.
That doesn't mean it isn't a sound idea.
The school district's board last week approved hiring a school resource officer to patrol the schools during this school year. At the urging of the administration, the school board approved expenses to have one state police trooper in district schools for six to 10 hours a week at a cost of about $70 an hour.
As long as the district can fit it into its budget, that is money well spent in our view.
The trooper will be available at afterschool events at mutually agreed upon times.
The officer also will perform other services such as driver education, school bus safety, developmet of school safety plans and school walk-throughs.
The officer will spend most of his or her time in the middle and high schools.
Beyond the written job description, the officer's presence and visibility alone in the schools will be helpful. School safety requires a multi-pronged strategy these days, including school resource officers.
It's hard to put a value on prevention of chronic problems and possibly a crisis or tragedy at a school.
But the presence of a school resource officer is a well-worth-it initiative for the school district.
