March 20, 2023

The Rockwood Board of Education has approved hiring four school safety officers to assist with coverage in each of the district’s four quadrants effective at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. The school safety officers will be armed and assigned a district vehicle that is marked as Rockwood security. The primary focus of the school safety officers will be covering elementary schools within their assigned quadrant, but they may be called upon to assist at other schools or buildings, explained Superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain during his presentation to the Board on March 16. 

Currently, Rockwood has 13 school resource officers (SROs) across six police jurisdictions. Rockwood has agreements with the police departments in order to provide for the officers in its schools. Each middle and high school in the district has a dedicated SRO, and they are available to assist at elementary schools within their jurisdiction. The remaining SROs cover multiple elementary schools and Early Childhood centers. The new school safety officers will be employees of Rockwood, report to the district safety supervisor and have the ability to float over multiple municipalities to provide additional security coverage for the district.  

“This will not impact a single SRO agreement with any of the municipalities that we have in this district,” shared Dr. Cain. “The new school safety officers are going to work in conjunction with our existing SROs and provide an additional layer of support and security presence in our schools. Safety is a top priority in Rockwood, and we are always looking for ways to improve the safety of our schools, buildings and campuses.”

Dr. Cain met with police chiefs across the district on March 9 to let them know what he would be proposing to the Board and to assure them that Rockwood would continue to work closely with law enforcement to ensure the safety of its students, staff and community. The openings have been posted and once hired, the new safety officers will start July 1.