Saratoga Springs schools should add more school resource officers, safety audit says

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A safety audit done by the Saratoga Springs City School District insurance carrier has recommended the district add two school resource officers (SRO) to work in its elementary schools — one in the city and one outside the city.

The insurance company last did such an audit in 2018, recommending the addition of an SRO then as well. That position was eventually approved by the school board. 

The new recommendation made during a district public safety forum Thursday evening comes after the New York State Insurance Reciprocal in October reviewed Saratoga Springs infrastructure, policies and procedures for safety district-wide. It also follows months of contentious public comments by district residents on whether there should be officers in the district’s six elementary schools. 

In September, Wilton Town Board member Ray O’Conor said the town was willing to pay for an officer to work at Dorothy Nolan Elementary, located within the town. 

Superintendent Mike Patton has also said that the city has offered to provide another officer. 

Currently, the district employs two SROs — one at the high school and one at the middle school.

Patton said communities across the state have been discussing SROs. 

“Just a few weeks ago, our Suburban Council superintendents met and the utilization of school resource officers was a primary focus of conversation that a lot of the Capital Region school districts and boards of education were having,” he said. 

If Saratoga Springs adds two more officers, the district would be among a handful of others in the Capital Region with more than two.

Saratoga Springs City School District Superintendent Mike Patton, left, and a chart, provided by Saratoga City School District, listing area school districts, there enrollment, number of district buildings, and number of school resource officers.

Saratoga Springs has 5,980 students enrolled in the district spread across eight buildings. For comparison, Schenectady City School District has three SROs for around 9,300 students across 17 buildings, according to data provided by the Saratoga Springs City School District. That being said, Schenectady has approved the hiring a total of six. Shenendehowa Central School District also has three officers for its enrollment of around 9,500 students across 13 buildings.

Resident Mark Crockett asked why the insurance company didn’t recommend at least one officer for each school, noting it had been a recommendation in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission report which looked at and provided recommendations following the shooting at the high school on Feb. 14, 2018 that left 17 people dead. 

“It really comes down to monetary issues doesn’t it,” he said. “SROs are not free, so there is a cost involved.”

He also said the city police department also tries to be present for arrival and dismissal times at the city elementary schools.

“It would depend on call volume,” said Glenn Barrett, one of the district current SROs.

During the forum, Madeline Patterson asked what the timeline for hiring the officers would be following the forum. 

Patton said the forum was to gather feedback from the community and answer questions. He said the school board will discuss more about the recommendations at its Dec. 13 meeting. 

“If they’re ready to move forward with a recommendation and a resolution that would most likely happen in January,” the superintendent said. 

The insurance reciprocal also offered several other recommendations to improve district safety such as reviewing the district’s open campus policy.

“Saratoga is one of only a handful of schools in the state that even has an open campus policy anymore,” said another resident at the forum. 

Other recommendations include: 

• Surveying the external lighting in the district 
• Adding more security film to areas throughout the district
• Establishing a more consistent approach to reunification drills
• Adding more internal and external lockdown strobes

Some of the recommendations the insurance company suggested are already being implemented, such as providing live video feed access to emergency responders and putting up signs indicating what it means when a lockdown strobe is going off. 

Resident Charlie Samuels, who has spoken against adding more officers to the district, questioned why there wasn’t a recommendation for more mental health resources. 

Dr. Laurie Newcomer, a member of the district-wide Emergency Response Team, said the district has added a lot of mental health resources over the years. 

Another resident, Jessica Todtenhagen, said just because you add resource officers doesn’t mean you can’t add more health professionals either. 

“I feel like sometimes we have this one or the other mentality, which is not helpful,” she said. “I think we can improve mental health. I think we can improve relationships with law enforcement — have more SROs, have more counselors. It doesn’t have to be if we do this we can’t do this. We should work on how can we do both.”

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