Mannford School Board Approves Creation Of Police Officer Position

In response to last month's Connecticut school massacre, one Tulsa-area school district is taking action to offer protection for its students and staff and to ease minds of parents.

At a Jan. 14 meeting, the Mannford Public Schools Board of Education unanimously approved the creation of a part-time position for a police/security officer, the Mannford Eagle reported this week.

In December 2012, a gunman entered a Connecticut elementary school and gunned down 20 children and six adults before killing himself.

"We have a great police department and I've had the chance to work with them and I know we spent a lot of time talking about Newtown, (Conn.)" MPS Superintendent Steve Waldvogel told the newspaper. "…There was just a lot of real fearfulness in our community because we can all relate to that. It's just so easy to go to our local elementary school and you see what happened and you can't believe it happened."

Waldvogel told the board responsibilities of the new position would be to promote and maintain a safe school environment, but a job requirement would be that the person be a full-time police officer for the Mannford Police Department or a reserved police officer, the newspaper reported.

The position will pay $15 per hour for a four-hour shift, which is what an uncertified substitute teacher would make and what a MPD officer is paid for any other off-duty job, according to Waldvogel.

The Mannford elementary, middle and high schools are located in the same complex along Evans Road and Green Valley Road.

There are 1,550 students in the district, a spokeswoman with the administration office said.

The district as also taken additional precautions and is reviewing and tweaking all safety procedures.

Read the full story in the Mannford Eagle