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Peters Township school board votes to hire 3 additional resource officers

PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Peters Township school board voted Monday to hire three additional full-time school resource officers.

11 News talked to parents who are glad that more police officers will be inside their children’s schools.

Kids aren’t the only ones nervous about going back to school.

“I have a kindergartner. That’s all you need to say,” said Kristina Rossin.

Rossin has a daughter that will start kindergarten on Aug. 24. She tells Channel 11 that after a gunman shot and killed 19 children and two teachers at a school in Uvalde, Texas, she contacted the Peters Township School District.

“One of the first calls was to the district after the most recent mass shooting, and they were very prompt and got back to me, and significantly reduced all of my fears,” Rossin explained.

“We regularly review all of this. Those crises bring a lot of attention, but this is something that we do everyday,” said Shelly Belcher, communications coordinator for the school district.

Belcher says they walked the school buildings in the district this summer with Peters Township police and found areas that needed more security.

They already have two full-time school resource officers, and the school board just voted to hire three more.

“Safety is so important in what we do. So our conversations with the police department and with our staff is ongoing,” Belcher said.

We’re told the district and Peters Township will share the costs for the new officers. Rossin says you can’t put a price on the safety of children.

“I want to be able to explain to my child when she leaves next Wednesday that she is safe, and that she doesn’t have to fear what she hears and sees on TV,” she said.

The district tells us this is one of many new things they’re doing to keep students safe this school year.

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