ELKINS, W.Va. (WBOY) — Randolph County Superintendent Debra Schmidlen went before the Randolph County Commission on Sept. 15 to discuss the benefits of current prevention resource officers (PRO), and how she believes the county is in need of a third.
Randolph County currently has two PRO officers, but Randolph County Sheriff Robert Elbon Jr. said that there is a need for an additional officer at the largest school in the county, Elkins High School.
“There is a need for that, there is enough activity at Elkins High School that a PRO officer needs to be stationed there every day. It’s the biggest school in the county, a lot of kids,” Sheriff Elbon said.
According to Sheriff Elbon, they have applied for an additional grant to offset the cost of the PRO officers for the Randolph County Board of Education, which pays the salaries for the PRO officers.
Randolph county has officers stationed at Tygarts Valley Middle/High School and Elkins Middle School, but Superintendent Schmidlen says they believe that it is vital that there be a third PRO officer at Elkins High School.
The current PRO officers, Deputy Rocky Hebb and Sergeant Danny Pennington move within the schools in the county as they are needed, and have been frequently pulled to Elkins High School.