Pittsburgh-area school district closer to getting own police force
MCCANDLESS, Pa. (KDKA) — North Allegheny School District is one step closer to getting its own police department.
Superintendent Brendan Hyland gave a safety and security presentation at a school board meeting on Wednesday. He said the Pennsylvania State Police did a security assessment on all North Allegheny facilities from October 2021 to December 2021. School board members visited Plum, where Hyland he started a police force.
If the resolution passes, the school board will start by hiring a police chief and 12 officers to cover 12 buildings. They will be school employees, not municipal officers.
Five years ago, the school hired two resource officers who work for McCandless police. Eventually, those officers will be phased out. Hyland said the armed police officers legally could detain and arrest students, but Hyland said the district will leave that to local law enforcement.
The superintendent pointed out the district has support from McCandless, Northern Regional and Franklin Park police.
"I don't want to wake up wondering and saying why didn't we do more," parent Sara Ecker said. "So many other schools have it, and I'm sick of hearing that it's a budgetary thing."
"Our children are at stake," parent Joe Ecker said. "It only make sense. You are not going to take guns out of people's hands so we need to protect them."
"I believe it will pass," North Allegheny School Board President Libby Blackburn said. "There is nothing more important than ensuring the safety and security of our staff and our students."
"If it does pass next week, we would immediately advertise for a police chief," she added. "Once we have the chief of police, then we would hire our school resource officers."
The school board will vote on Oct. 25. The price tag for a school police force is about $1 million a year.