THROOP - Officials from three Mid Valley School District boroughs are working together to increase security in the district.
Council members from Dickson City, Olyphant and Throop attended a special school board meeting Thursday to propose a joint effort. Olyphant Mayor Jayme Morano said he hoped to see all three communities share costs for a resource officer.
"This is just our first step," he said of the group's attendance. "If we can make this happen, it would be a big step."
Discussion primarily focused on how to add an officer, but no decisions were finalized. Mid Valley School Board member Paul Macknosky cautioned there could be other options.
"Everybody is jumping to a resource officer as the best way to secure schools," he said. "We don't know that that's the case."
If the district were to add a resource officer, the cost would be shared between the school and Throop borough, where the school is located. Mr. Morano and council members said that they were willing to discuss dividing that cost to benefit the children of all three municipalities.
The effort would require a cooperative agreement between the municipalities. If the officer came from Dickson City or Olyphant, there would need to be an agreement to allow jurisdiction because the school is in Throop.
"It's definitely worth exploring," Superintendent Randy Parry said.
Though a consensus was not reached Thursday, all three communities planned to discuss how to share the cost and what option to take.
"I just don't want to talk about it for three years," Olyphant Councilwoman Dina Harrington added.
A meeting between borough and district officials was tentatively set for March 26 at 7 p.m. at the high school.
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