Town and school district to share costs of new security officers

For the 2024-2025 school year, the total cost to employ two armed school resource officers provided by the Riverhead Police Department at both Riverhead High School and Riverhead Middle School will be approximately $352,000, the Town of Riverhead’s finance administrator, Jeanette DiPaola confirmed.

This figure, calculated based on the 184 scheduled days in the upcoming school year, was part of an agreement signed last month by Riverhead Town and Riverhead Central School District. 

Beginning July 1 and running through June 30, 2025, the Riverhead Board of Education will pay 50% of the cost to employ one of the two SROs, for an estimated $88,000. The remainder of the cost — roughly $264,000 — will be covered by Riverhead Town. 

For the 2025-26 academic year and beyond, the school district will pay 50% of the cost for both SROs, per the employment agreement, which Ms. DiPaola said would be split evenly at $176,000 each from the district and town. 

Ms. DiPaola said the estimates include benefits for the officers. 

Both SROs will remain employees of the Riverhead Police Department and will be posted at their respective school locations five days a week. 

The main duties of school resource officers are to provide security and surveillance in their assigned areas, as well as take note of and report any “irregularities, dangerous practices and conditions, accidents, fires and other acts or circumstances, requiring police or other action, which affect the health and welfare of students and school personnel,” according to the employment agreement.

The SROs are intended to serve as “role models” to whom the students can turn for any assistance, interim district superintendent Cheryl Pedisich said when the employment agreement was announced last month. They are also expected to be an educational resource for students and their families through presentations on specific topics, such as security, crime prevention, drug and alcohol misuse and related issues.

The officers will carry weapons either openly or concealed, when authorized by the police chief. An open carry may be required in situations where an “armed presence” could provide a “useful deterrent,” according to the contract, while concealment is defined as permissible “only while in plain clothes and in circumstances where the officer may wish to act informally with students, parents or faculty.”