The Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District voted to hire two school resource officers for the 2019-2020 school year.
Two certified law enforcement officers, Barry Gregg and Mac Burrell, were hired to serve as school resource officers, one stationed at Winona Elementary School and one at Winona Secondary School. Gregg and Burrell both have years of experience in law enforcement.
According to Dr. Teresa Jackson, superintendent of education, the district’s new school resource officers will not be security guards but certified law enforcement officers working directly for the district. Like any other law enforcement officer, they will be armed and have arrest power, if that becomes necessary.
“The [school] board is very committed to the [School Resource Officer] program,” Jackson said. “We asked for one [school resource officer] and they gave us two. That is how important they think this program is.”
Jackson said the two school resource officers [SROs] staff the district’s own police department that will work in cooperation with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and the Winona Police Department. The SROs will have distinct uniforms, have designated vehicles, and carry weapons if the board deems fit.
“We don’t want to criminalize bad behavior because most of it is just bad school behavior,” Jackson said.
The SROs will focus on more than just keeping the schools secure, they will also spend time counseling students if necessary and educating students, parents, and teachers in subjects like bullying, suicide prevention, drug and alcohol prevention, and more.
“We hope this will make students’ experience with law enforcement better, and we hope [the SROs] will be there to encourage children to be good citizens.”
Tuesday, Jackson and Charlie Parkerson, District Operations Direction, met with Sheriff Bubba Nix and Winona Police Chief Tommy Bibbs in regards to working together with the SROs. Bibbs and Nix offered their advice and ideas to make the new SRO program work efficiently.
“They need a policy and procedure manual,” Bibbs said. “They need to know your expectations.”
Nix agreed.
Jackson said the district has already reached out to other districts who already have operating procedures in place for SROs.
“Within two years, [the newly-hired school resource officers] will have to go to through the [Mississippi Department of Education’s SRO Training and Threat Assessment,” Jackson said.
Bibbs and Nix said their departments are planning a joint active shooter training to be held prior to the start of school. The district’s SROs will participate as well, as they are the direct link between the schools and the police and sheriff’s departments.
“There is nothing more important than a kids’ safety,” Bibbs said.
Nix agreed and said, “If they need us, they just have to call.”
In other school business:
• The renovation of the Winona High School track is nearly complete. Jackson informed the school board at last Tuesday’s meeting that the first layer was complete, with it completed fully by this week.
• Jackson told the board that Parkerson had met with representatives from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History [MDAH] regarding the district’s plans to replace all the windows in Winona Secondary School. Because of the building’s age, the architect urged the district to present their plan to MDAH prior to work starting. Winona Secondary School is not on the state’s list of historically designated landmarks.
Jackson said MDAH denied the district’s request to replace the windows. They stated the school could remove the windows, clean and repair them, and re-install them.
However, the reason the district planned to replace the windows was to improve energy efficiency and improve the students’ comfort during the school year. Jackson said in the classrooms, there is a dramatic temperature difference between the students near the windows and those not near the windows. Either students are freezing or hot, depending on the outside temperature.
Jackson said the district is planning to send MDAH a letter explaining that their plan to clean and repair the windows is not feasible financially for the district and not feasible to take on while school is in session.
“We still have to have school,” Jackson said.
Jackson said she will contact Senator Lydia Chassaniol to seek help in the matter.
