VIDALIA, La. &045; The supervisor of the Concordia Alternative Center has asked the parish school board to base an officer at his Ferriday school to deal with safety concerns.

Howard Jackson first approached the board more than a month ago requesting a school resource officer through the Ferriday Police Department that would serve all Ferriday schools but spend the most time at his. The board discussed the issue at Tuesday night’s meeting, but no decision has been made.

&uot;I’ve never requested anything I don’t feel we need,&uot; Jackson told the board. &uot;We aren’t dealing with the better students. It’s dangerous. Every child down there is a troubled child.&uot;

Students at the alternative center have been removed from other parish schools for either disciplinary problems or age requirements. The school has about 50 students from fourth grade to 12th grade.

Superintendent Kerry Laster shared statistics with the board that showed the FPD had been called to the school only a few times last year, but Jackson said those statistics were inaccurate.

&uot;Those stats, that’s not even close to being correct,&uot; he said. &uot;We need to face reality that something could happen any day, anytime.&uot;

School resource officers are not uncommon in schools &045; Jackson said every alternative center he’s visited has one. The Natchez public school district has two SROs this year and had four in past years.

SROs visit the schools frequently, at non-scheduled times, and get to know the children, Jackson said. The officer would be there in the case of an emergency, but would also work year round to prevent dangerous situations.

&uot;It’s to work with them and get them to accept law enforcement,&uot; Jackson said. &uot;To build a positive relationship between the youngsters and law enforcement.&uot;

Ferriday Police Chief Robert Davis served as an SRO in Ferriday schools three years ago for three years.

&uot;It’s a real successful thing,&uot; he said. &uot;Once they kids get to know you aren’t just there to put them in jail, they’ll start talking to you and you get all kinds of information. If something is being planned to occur, you know before it happens.&uot;

Davis said the SROs role was as a bridge from the schools to law enforcement and the community.

Jackson’s original talks had been with FPD, which could only serve Ferriday schools. Laster said she would rather run the program through the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office in order to use the officer in all parish schools.

Tuesday night’s board discussions concerned opting between FPD and the CPSO.

Several board members said they would like to hear more information before making a decision. Jackson said he had no problem working with the CPSO to get the officer, but wanted the SRO to be located close to the schools he serves.

A parish wide officer may be in Monterey when needed in Ferriday, he said.

The school district would be responsible for a portion of the officer’s salary.

The board asked the superintendent to discuss the matter with Jackson and bring it back to them next month.