The Chemung County Legislature voted to expand the county’s agreement with the Elmira City School District to provide School Resource Officers to elementary schools located within the Elmira City School District at its legislature meeting on Sept. 10th.
The officers began their work this school year. Four (4) officers were hired to cover the eight (8) elementary schools located within the district.
Legislator Rodney J. Strange, who supported this resolution, was a member of the Elmira City School Board back in 1995 when the first resource officers where hired to work in the district’s high schools. “I was a strong supporter of the late Sheriff Charles Houper’s proposal back in 1995 to begin the program in Elmira’s schools. We were one of the first district’s in the state to have officers on our schools. It was the right thing to do back then and it is the right thing to expand it now into the elementary schools,” Strange said. The program was expanded to the district’s middle schools several years ago.
The officers are retired police officers from various law enforcement agencies throughout the Southern Tier. They are being compensated with an annual salary of $30,000, which is currently the maximum amount individuals receiving New York State retirement benefits are allowed to earn.
Sheriff Moss said that he and Undersheriff would like to thank the Chemung County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, who played a major role in negotiating this Agreement to make our area schools safer for students, faculty and the community in general.