Charter Schools Security Officers to be Trained

June 5, 2007
by Chris Kirkham
The Times Picayune

The Algiers Charter Schools Association will hold a training session next week to give national certification to all 24 of its school security officers.

The weeklong course is open to any school security officer in the New Orleans area, and registration is open through Friday.

In addition to polishing crime-fighting techniques, the course is aimed at teaching officers how to deal with students' emotional issues and the often-touchy home problems that can creep into school.

The officers protect kids from outside influences, but there are so many dynamics within the school that affect the learning environment," said Kenny Harris, director of security for the charter schools association. "They'll be able to better identify the emotional issues that may be hampering them."

The classes will be put on by the National Association of School Resource Officers, a St. Paul, Minn., nonprofit group that gives national certification to school security officials. The training will include classes on public speaking, counseling and the nuts and bolts of crime prevention.

So far, Harris and his assistant are the only Algiers Charter School employees who have the certification. Each of the three officers in the system's eight schools will be trained.

Unlike some neighboring districts, Algiers charter schools does not use uniformed law enforcement officers for school security, although several of them are former police officers. Jefferson Parish Public Schools uses Sheriff's Office deputies in each school, and has required the officers to attend the same training course for the past nine years.

New Orleans Public Schools security officers are no longer certified under the school resource officers program since Hurricane Katrina, but School Board President Phyllis Landrieu said the system is considering training down the road. The state-run Recovery School District, which took over numerous failing public schools in 2005, uses an outside security firm that does not have the school resource officer training.

Next week's session is open to anyone who wants the certification, but Harris said few outside his system had signed up so far.

The training will be held next Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at William Fischer Charter Elementary School, 1801 L.B. Landry Ave. in Algiers. The cost is $425 per person. Call Harris at (504) 393-0926 to register.