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Cecil set to provide resource officer for Muse elementary

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Cecil Township will provide Canon-McMillan School District with a school resource officer starting next school year.

Township supervisors approved a proposal – pending the township solicitor’s review of the contract – Monday.

Under the agreement, the district will pay $60,000 a year to the township for the officer’s services.

The officer will work primarily at the new Muse Elementary Center, which will open at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.

The officer will be the first provided to the district from the township.

Canonsburg and North Strabane Township already each provide an officer at the middle and high school, respectively.

Cecil police Chief Shawn Bukovinsky called the decision a “very positive thing” and said the practice helps officers build relationships with students.

“I think even with the walk-throughs that we’ve had throughout the years, the kids have been really comfortable with us, and getting to know the officers,” he said. “The kids know the officer’s name, and the officer knows their name.”

He said the SRO’s duties will include teaching on safety-related topics.

An officer hasn’t been picked for the position. Bukovinsky said the officer will be a veteran member of the department.

He said he plans to begin the process of hiring two new officers – one to replace the officer who’ll be taken off the road to work as the resource officer and another to replace an officer who recently resigned – in the coming months.

Bukovisky said the department now has 19 full-time officers, including himself.

He said the 180 days the township’s school resource officer will work at the school cost the township about $38,000 – leaving enough to cover the officer’s benefits with the additional money.

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