From Harford County Public Schools:
The Alternative Education Program (AEP) will hold a Town Hall Meeting for parents on Wednesday, October 14th at the Edgewood Boys & Girls Club, 2002 Cedar Drive, from 6:30 to 8:00 pm.
Guests will be able to enjoy dinner and conversations with AEP teachers, counselors and administrators; access their child’s EdLine account to check grades; create a free e-mail account; learn about AEP and ways to volunteer; sign up for a Harford County Public Library card; and learn more about the Boys & Girls Club.
Maybe they’ll explain why Alt Ed is the only secondary school in the County without a police presence? Why did Aberdeen Police pull out of there and why won’t they let the Sheriff’s Office takeover?
I asked sheriff Banes a similar question. It was voted on by the towns of Aberdeen and Edgewood and maybe Bel Air that they wanted to put their own officers in their schools. So it was taken out of the sheriff dept’s budget. The sheriff’s dept. used to have it in their budget to cover all schools. Those towns chose to turn them down and use their own officers. Since it is no longer an item in their budget, they can’t just ask for more money, it’s more complicated for that, they would have to create new positions and then get them funded. But no one had asked them to do that so it isn’t really relevant. My guess is that they share the resource officer with AHS, but that is just a guess. I can explain why the Harford County Sheriff’s Dept. isn’t there, but not why an Aberdeen police officer isn’t.
I agree with this concern. My child was attacked at thge alt ed school and no one 9police) was around to help. They had to be called in. Plus the girls locker rooms are moniterd there, but not the boys, why??
Sandy, you say the town of Edgewood voted to put their police officers in the schools. Please let me know when the vote took place and where. Thank you
Delegate, that is a question in bad faith, and you know it.
I don’t know, I didn’t ask. I asked Sheriff Banes at a legislative forum about why Aberdeen had an Aberdeen police officer instead of having a county sheriff like most schools because many Aberdeen parents were concerned about it. Why did their town have to pay for a resource officer when most schools got a county sheriff? As one of AHS PTSA representatives, I asked so I could report back to the rest of the school community. I don’t know much about what happened in the past in Aberdeen, my daughter is in the magnet program there, I live in Forest Hill. That was the answer he gave me. I do know it took place before he was sheriff, I remember him saying that.
I know that all of the towns have their own School Resource Officers just like they have their own police departments. So, BAHS, HdGHS and AHS all have their respective town police as SROs. However, Aberdeen pulled out of Alt Ed for unknown reasons and now there’s no one in the school. The high school person doesn’t cover it because they’re in schools at different times. This is all second-hand info so I don’t know the validity.
I also don’t think it’s possible for the town of Edgewood to vote on something because they’re really not a “town” like Bel Air or Havre de Grace is… am I right, Delegate?
Del. Riley, You couldn’t have corrected my mistake without being nasty? I was trying to help with an explanation I was given about something and made a mistake between Edgewood and Havre de Grace being a town? Neither is relevant to the question about Aberdeen. Why be so mean? I expect better of our elected officials.
Concerned Parent,
You are correct, Edgewood is not a town.
It was not my intention to be mean. It was my intention to set the record straight. There are many people that believe Edgewood is a town. Sandy’s statement, if not corrected, furthers this misconception.
Then say no, Edgewood isn’t a town. No need to ask a sarcastic question like that. I do believe I’ve seen a part of your character I’ve never seen before. I’m surprised, I didn’t expect that from you.
I don’t believe Delegate Dan Riley. has a mean bone in his body. I’am sure he never meant to up set any one. I find him to be very pleasant. & very helpfull when called upon.
Concerned Parent and Sandy,
To my knowledge, public secondary schools OUTSIDE of the 3 municipalities (Aberdeen, Bel Air and Havre de Grace) are supplied School Resource Officers (SRO’s) by the Harford County Sheriff’s Department, but public secondary schools INSIDE of the 3 municipalities are supplied SRO’s by their respective municipal police forces. This was started a few years ago using FEDERAL grant money. Since then, most (or all) of the grant money has disappeared, and the municipalities have had to come up with their own funding to compensate for the lost grant money.
The situation with the Alt Education School SRO is slightly different. Since its inception, there had never been a SRO specifically dedicated to the school. An officer would be present “part time”, usually being paid with overtime money. Prior to the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year, Chief Rudy and I spoke in front of the County Council requesting full time funding for a SRO that would be dedicated to the Alt Ed Program (keep in mind that this is a County School INSIDE of Aberdeen). We were successful, and A.P.D. added a full time SRO dedicated to the Alt Ed Building. Fast forward to the 2009-2010 school year. Suddenly (and without notification), Harford County cut the funding for the Alt Ed Program SRO. To the best of my recollection, that’s what happened. I can tell you this….with continually declining streams of revenue, Harford County, The State of Maryland, AND the Municipalities cannot continue to provide the same level of services that they have in the past. Tough decisions have to be made, and this was one that Harford County decided to make.