An Aroostook school district is eliminating its resource officer to pay for more student mental health support

CARIBOU, Maine — In the wake of the the latest shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, one particular college district in Aroostook County is reducing its police officer in favor of choosing much more people to assistance students with their psychological health and fitness difficulties.

When confronted with an ever more tight spending plan, a lack in neighborhood regulation enforcement and a substantial raise in mental well being troubles among the students, the Caribou faculty district selected to seek the services of a lot more mental well being assistance and administrative team for the coming calendar year, consequently doing away with its school useful resource officer as of July 1.

The district desires to handle difficulties that have afflicted far more students because COVID-19, this sort of as social media bullying and harassment, anxiety and depression, ahead of they develop into much too damaging and guide to violence or self-hurt, RSU 39 Superintendent Timothy Doak mentioned Friday.

Like college districts across the United States, RSU 39 (Caribou and Stockholm) is going through possibilities on how to most effective react to issues about school security and the roles that law enforcement officers should really engage in in protecting it. Whilst some districts see the selecting of school resource officers as crucial for stopping faculty-based mostly violence, some others commit  their restricted resources in social personnel, counselors and alternative varieties of non-law enforcement intervention. RSU 39, which serves 700 prekindergarten by eighth-grade pupils and 480 superior college students at its two Caribou educational institutions, is picking psychological health.

“Social media bullying and harassment have develop into rampant, specially at the middle university amount,” Doak stated.

Even though social media bullying was an problem prior to COVID-19, the pandemic forced college students into isolation when lessons switched to distant understanding. Lots of students put in additional time on your own whilst their mom and dad labored, expanding their social media use, Doak explained.

Pupils have been to in-human being courses far more during this faculty calendar year than any other time in the course of the pandemic. But the greater perception of isolation and uncertainty that grew out of the pandemic inspired lots of students to connect on their telephones and social media more, more exposing them to bullies, he explained.

“When I was increasing up, my mother answered the telephone and vetted all the calls,” Doak claimed. “Now, a college student could be receiving ready for mattress and obtain a text with no their mother and father realizing.”

The university district has contracted with Caribou Police Department for 4 years for a resource officer at both of those Caribou Local community University and Caribou Large University. The district compensated the town centered on the sum of time the officer used on college grounds.

The district projected its whole expenditures to preserve the resource officer up coming school year would be $80,000. The deficiency of a fully staffed law enforcement section in Caribou intended that the officer used time at both schools throughout only 25 p.c of the present-day college year — which was a aspect in the selection to eradicate the situation, Doak explained.

Despite the fact that the district wants to have its college useful resource officer return, it has made a decision to use its budgeted cash to deal with psychological overall health requires among the pupils, Doak claimed.

RSU 39 has relied on two entire-time social staff considering the fact that opening the newly built Caribou Community University in 2020. Now the district will hire a third social employee, who beforehand worked as an ed tech at the group university but has experience in scenario administration.

The plan is to address behavioral complications that have improved given that college students returned to in-individual lessons, these as anger issues and learners supplying up on themselves additional simply and turning into confused, Doak said.

“There was this anxiety we all had in the course of COVID that’s continue to here even however we’re in man or woman,” he stated.

Caribou Higher College has three counselors and just one social employee and does not system to increase far more in the in the vicinity of long term. For the 1st time in a ten years, the faculty will have a comprehensive-time assistant principal this slide.

The district sees the assistant principal as a person who can additional quickly intervene in non-crime-connected university student problems, Doak mentioned. Maine legislation offers administrators authority to perform residence visits, search backpacks and intervene in non-violent confrontations in between students, when college useful resource officers generally offer with criminal offense-linked issues.

Obtaining a further administrative staff member will also include a dependable grownup that learners can flip to if they witness or working experience bullying or want to handle psychological wellness considerations, Caribou Large Faculty counselor Rani Mehta explained.

“We convey to youngsters ‘if you see a thing, say one thing.’ Sometimes we learn items [about other students] that could be lifesaving, so owning a further man or woman who can maintain those people children on their radar is massive,” Mehta stated.

Students’ and workers members’ fears above psychological well being appear at a time wherever even regular in-person discovering has not prevented a bullying-linked tragedy.

On March 3, a 14-yr-old college student from Caribou Local community School died. His obituary explained him as somebody who stood up for the vulnerable and bullied, and his family members asked local community associates to donate to #stopbulllying.

That student’s story is 1 of lots of items motivating the university to address troubles such as bullying, psychological overall health and university security with pupils straight. In the past year, Caribou Higher College personnel hosted guest speakers from Aroostook’s Homeland Protection and juvenile corrections divisions, who talked about  the hazards of cyberbullying.

Very last fall, the former principal of Columbine High College, a survivor of the effectively acknowledged 1999 college shooting, spoke to students on selling optimistic peer and adult connections.

No matter of no matter if RSU 39 reinstates a resource officer in the faculties, Mehta said that sturdy partnerships with Caribou Police Office and other community agencies will be critical in avoiding tragedies and encouraging optimistic scholar-and-grownup interactions.

In a joint assertion released this week, Doak and Law enforcement Chief Michael Gahagan mentioned a feasible return of the school’s “Lunch with a Caribou Law enforcement Officer” application. They also claimed that officers will assist the district overview its security designs, make everyday safety checks on school homes and help with lively shooter coaching.

Most of all, Gahagan desires learners to have beneficial relationships with local legislation enforcement and see them as a normal element of their group.

“Even now I have an officer who’s reading through to children [at Caribou Community School],” Gahagan said. “Any time college students can have a optimistic conversation with an officer is a excellent detail. [It shows that] items are not always like what you see on Television set.”

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