District hires four safety officers

david MOSS

Having two children enrolled at Ballwin Elementary, Susan Hartley, science teacher, is always alert to their safety.

“When they have intruder drills and things like that, we have discussions at home,” Hartley said. “It’s always a fear, but how rational it is, I don’t know.”

To improve safety at the elementary level, the Board of Education approved the hiring of four school safety officers. Each officer will cover 4 to 5 of the 19 elementary schools in the district.

Ty Dennis, district safety supervisor, said the new safety officers will be employees of the district and will have had prior law enforcement experience. This differs from school resource officers (SROs), who are police officers.

Many police departments have had police officers that stop by elementary schools within their jurisdictions in the past, Dennis said. With these four safety officers, the elementary schools will receive more direct coverage.

“The number one ask of most parents, with all the school incidents and different things that have happened around the country, has been more coverage at our elementary schools,” Dennis said.

Dennis emphasized that safety is a top priority, especially with so many mass shootings shaking the nation.

In 2022, there were 646 mass shootings in the U.S., according to the Gun Violence Archive. This year, that number is already 155.

“We try to evaluate what is best for the district as a whole and do what we can to make everyone as safe as we can,” Dennis said.

Dennis said immediately hiring 19 school safety officers, one for each ele- mentary school, would be a big investment for the district.

Dr. Tracey Waeckerle was hired as head principal to replace Dr. Steve Hankins starting the 2023-24 school year.

Dr. Hankins will become the assistant superintendent of student services.

Three candidates were elected to the Board of Education on Tuesday, April 4. Their positions are up for re-election in 2026.

“We’re going to start with the four and see how that coverage looks,” Dennis said.

Reilly Moroney, senior, is a cadet teacher at Kehrs Mill Elementary for Jennifer Busch’s kindergarten class.

Moroney said the district made a good decision by hiring the four school safety officers.

“I’m not there for long enough to see a big difference with that,” Moroney said, “but I think anything to keep our schools safe is a good thing.”

Julie Cooper, school counselor at Kehrs Mill and Wildhorse Elementaries, said the elementary counselors are focused on the social and emotional wellbeing of students.

“Everytime we hear of any sort of mass shooting in the country, whether it be at a school or not at a school, as people, it makes us uncomfortable and worried,” Cooper said.

While officers at the elementary schools improve school safety, Cooper said they also are an important part of the school community.

“The kids are comfortable around them and they enjoy them,” Cooper said. “They’re out doing recess duty and they’re doing lunch duty. They’re embedded into our school system, and it creates a really beautiful bridge between the community and the school.”

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