School resource officers on the job
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. >> The Ballston Spa Central School District has joined the ranks of districts hiring school resource officers for the 2018-19 school year.
The district announced last week that Saratoga County Sheriff deputies Jillian Lyons and Jon Becker are now on the job at the district’s four elementary schools, the middle school, and the high school. Each Saratoga County Deputy working as an SRO in the county is paid $72,000. Both Lyons and Becker are armed.
Lyons will work with the students and staff of the district’s elementary schools. Her office will be centrally located in the Milton Terrace Elementary School. Becker will work with staff and students of the middle and high schools, grades six through 12.
The officers are full-time members of the school district staff and will focus on keeping students and other staff members safe. They will also work to make sure the buildings are secure, and teach students about respecting others, drug awareness, internet safety, and conflict resolution. Their presence is considered a positive part of the school community.
Lyons has been a member of the sheriff’s Office since 2015. In addition to road patrol she most recently served on the Community Preparedness and Youth Services team. She obtained her law enforcement certification from the Zone 5 Law Enforcement Academy in Schenectady and is a certified Emergency Medical Technician.
Before joining the sheriff’s office Lyons spent some time in the classroom as a teacher and knows full well that schools are where youngsters spend the majority of their time. She said she firmly believes today’s youth are the future of the country, and can see no better way to participate and play an active role in helping to make the local communities and country a more positive place than to be than to be in the schools.
“I loved teaching; working with kids is very rewarding,” she said. “I knew that when this position opened up, that it was right for me. I felt I could be a positive influence and role model for the students. I hoped that by having a few years with the Sheriff’s Office and a few years teaching I could see where both sides are coming from and assist as a connector to continue fostering a positive relationship between the two institutions for our community.”
Becker joined the ranks of the department in 2016 after serving the City of Gloversville Police Department where he worked as a patrolman since 2010. He was involved with community policing as well as working with the Gloversville Enlarged School District and was a member of the Emergency Response Team (SWAT).
He completed his law enforcement certification at the Little Falls Police Academy and is a certified cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and basic life support (BLS) instructor. He lives in the county with his wife and two sons who will attend Ballston Spa schools.
Becker said having young children has helped him realize how important it is they have positive role models in their lives and how needed the SRO position is in the schools. He was extremely excited when he learned that Sheriff Michael Zurlo and Deputy Ken Cooper were working with this particular school district to create a SRO program.
“I thought that this would be a great opportunity to create positive relationships with not only the students (our future), but our community as well,” Becker said. “The best part is that it is not just any school or community but the community where my family and I live. I really feel that fostering these relationships with the students and their families now will have a positive impact on the general public’s perception of law enforcement and our role in the community. As the SRO for
The High School and Middle School, I look forward to meeting everyone and helping our program at BSCSD grows.”
The Board of Education agreed to hire two SROs at its meeting in August. After two sets of interviews, one within the sheriff’s department and one with members of the Board of Education, Lyons and Becker were hired for the school district.
The two deputies join a pool of nine other Saratoga County Sheriff’s Deputies working in eight other school districts in the county as SROs. Of the nine school districts Ballston and the Shenendehowa school district are the only two with two SROs each.
“The district clearly made an excellent choice in the selection of Deputies Lyons and Becker for these important yet sensitive positions,” said Ballston School District Superintendent Ken Slentz. “After meeting with the two officers and their supervisors to discuss the specific roles and responsibilities of each officer I am confident that they will play an important part in further ensuring that our students and staff feel safe and secure in their learning environments.”