ADAMS TWP — Mars community members argued their security officers should have a close connection to the school at the board’s Tuesday, May 13, meeting.

Over 60 parents, students and residents attended the meeting at Mars Area High School to defend two school resource officers the district is parting ways with as the district’s contract with Adams Township Police Department nears expiration later this year.

The district is currently moving toward establishing its own internal police unit. The board officially hired a new director of safety and security Tuesday night.

The district would cut ties with Mike Bordt and Randy Ruediger, two Adams Township police officers who have served as school resource officers for Mars.

Up until now, the district has had a “hybrid model,” which includes the two Adams Township officers and three other school-employed officers, including a current security director who does not have the qualifications to be armed within school buildings.

Adams Township police has had a presence at the school district since 2012.

“Ask these kids, ask these teachers what kind of passion I have. Let’s talk about respect for our department. The way that was handled last week where I found out about it the day after you guys conducted interviews needs to be addressed. I recommend thinking about his process before rushing into it,” Bordt said during the meeting.

Superintendent Mark Gross said the reasons for moving to an internal model largely include having a singular chain of command in the case of a possible emergency. He said this is something a lot of other school districts across the country have done in recent years. Potential future retirements were also a factor.

“The move to an internal model gives us greater control over our own unified chain of command, with one person in charge at the district,” Gross said.

In the proposed structure, there would be an armed police officer working in every district building at all times, with the high school serving as the home base for the safety and security director.

The board officially hired Jeffrey James as the district’s new director of safety and security. James will make $145,000 plus insurance benefits in his new role.

James has 30 years of law enforcement experience, 22 of which were in the United States Secret Service. He most recently worked as the chief of police at Robert Morris University. James said he was the Secret Service’s liaison to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and has worked with various schools on safety and security issues.

James, along with multiple board members, said the in-school police force model is becoming increasingly common everywhere, with districts as small as Moniteau to those as big as North Allegheny using district-employed officers to maintain safety and security.

Despite the reasons provided for moving from the Adams Township police partnership to an in-school force, attendees expressed concern that new officers wouldn’t have the same connections with the student body. Things like helping with bullying, or responding in times of true crisis, they said, are made easier when the community connections are solid.

“When you have a crisis in your own home and the officer comes to your own house, it’s different when you know that officer by name,” Joe Joswiak, a district teacher, said. “It’s slightly different than if Mr. James or a retired state trooper showed up. My middle school daughter, her classmates say hello to the resource officers every day. I’ve witnessed officer Bordt and officer Ruediger frequently in times of crisis.”

“You can’t recreate the relationships the resource officers have established with the students,” Connor Summitt, a junior at Mars, added.

Gross, along with board members, emphasized their desire to continue working with the Adams Township police whenever possible. He said the decision to move on from the resource officers and to adapt an in-school police force had nothing to do with the capability of the department and was a difficult decision to make.

“We need to have a model for our security that works with any one individual. It has to be a model that works for the entire school, retirements happen, we might have one coming up. This plans for that,” board member Anthony DePretis said.

While the school board said they appreciated hearing from community members, the majority of the crowd walked out after the school board voted 9-0 in favor of hiring James as the new safety and security director.

“It’s a hard job. We made a hard decision. Not everybody’s going to like it, but we do thank everybody for coming out tonight,” board member Justin Miller said.