The Huntley 158 Board of Education on December 20 approved agreements with the Lake in the Hills and Algonquin Police Departments to create campus resource officer positions at the District’s Reed Road and Square Barn Road Campuses, respectively.
The new positions are modeled on the school resource officer position that has been successfully housed at Huntley High School in partnership with the Huntley Police Department for nearly 20 years. One police officer will be housed at each of the District’s two middle schools, Marlowe and Heineman, but will be focused on serving the safety, security, educational, legal, and relationship-building needs of the entire campus, including elementary schools.
“We’ve seen nothing but positive benefits to having a full-time school resource officer at our Harmony Road Campus in the past two decades,” said Superintendent Scott Rowe. “Adding officers who will be assigned full-time to our other two campuses will help improve the overall safety, security, and well-being of students and staff there as well.”
Campus resource officers provide both proactive and reactive safety and security roles, leading safety assessments, acting as liaison between the law enforcement system and schools, and serving as a first responder in emergency situations. In addition, the officers will collaborate with schools to lead student and family education programming.
“We have long benefited from the close and positive relationships with the police departments that serve our schools,” Rowe said. “This is another step in keeping safety and security as our top priority.”
The Reed Road Campus includes Marlowe Middle School, the D158 Early Childhood Center, Chesak Elementary School, and Martin Elementary School. The Square Barn Road Campus includes Heineman Middle School, Mackeben Elementary School, and Conley Elementary School.
