North Hills takes first steps to add police in schools

charge of the building.

“As a police officer, I have to stay back,” he said. “You don’t want police in your building, taking over searches, handcuffing kids, because then the culture of that building is going to change.”

That was echoed by Jesse Simpson, principal of West View Elementary.

“The principals’ roles will not change. We will continue to be the leaders of our schools,” he said, adding that the principals unanimously support the proposal.

“While it makes us all sad to think that these are conversations we have to have in schools, we are deeply committed to the safety of our students,” he said.

Likewise, members of the North Hills Education Association held a referendum vote on the proposal, and 92 percent of members support it, said Matt Demharter, association president.

The police chiefs of Ross and West View also endorsed the program. Two residents spoke in favor of the program, and six said they opposed it.

“Why would North Hills put all this money and time into an unsafe option to prepare for the least possible attack,” asked Sarah Schlieper, who has a daughter at the high school. “It’s not the policeman. It’s the gun.”

Mrs. Schlieper and other speakers said the district instead should put more money into counselors to help at-risk students.

“This is a complex program and doesn’t have one solution,” said Elizabeth PagelHogan. “Allot the same amount of money in the budget for mentors and counselors. Talk with students at every age about the link between domestic violence and school shootings.”

Ashley Barno said her son participates in the Bigs in Blues program at West View Elementary, which pairs third-grade boys one-on-one with mentors from the West View police. Having a school police officer would provide the same positive reinforcement, she said.

“I truly believe that it is going to help the students feel safer,” she said.

Ann Mary Bender also endorsed the program. Her niece was a senior at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., on April 20, 1999, when two gunmen opened fire in the building, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others.

She was a survivor, but even 19 years later, suffers from night terrors.

“We are looking at this as an insurance policy, hoping that we never, never need it. Had there been a school resource officer on the ground in 1999, it might have made a difference,” she said. “Yeah, you don’t want to have guns in the elementary schools, but I don’t want to get the call that my sister got.

“Until we can get to a point where we are making a valiant and concentrated effort on these programs, I’m content to put a Band-Aid on it.”