School Climate and Safety Toolkit
The Prevention Resource Officer Program (PRO)
Key Process for Schools
The PRO Program is a cooperative effort between schools and law
enforcement to place certified West Virginia Police Officers who are
also certified Prevention Resource Officers in local middle and high
schools in order to:
Assessment
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•
•
•
C. Support (County, School, Community, Law Enforcement, Funding)
improve students’ attitudes and knowledge of criminal justice and law enforcement
prevent juvenile delinquency; mentor youth
provide a safer school environment and
combine safety and child advocacy assuring a better school experience for all West Virginia youth.
The three main components of the PRO Program are prevention,
mentoring, and safety.
Prevention – The officers facilitate classes on non-traditional
educational topics such as juvenile law, domestic violence, underage
drinking, drug and alcohol prevention and child abuse and neglect.
Mentoring – Officers are trained on how to be a positive mentor to
students they interact with on a daily basis.
Safety – Officers are trained to recognize potential dangers, prevent
violence and to respond to dangerous school situations.
The PRO also maintains an
office in the school and is
on duty a minimum of 35
to 40 hours per week. In
addition to the regular school
day, PROs typically attend
extra-curricular activities
throughout the school year.
The three main
components of the
PRO Program are
prevention, mentoring,
and safety.
A. Need (Climate and Safety)
B. Interest (Administrative and Law Enforcement)
D. Board of Education Official Agreement
Resources
West Virginia Division of Justice and
Community Services
http://www.djcs.wv.gov/pro/Pages/default.aspx
WV PROs Coordinator
http://www.djcs.wv.gov/pro/Pages/default.aspx
Basic State PRO Guidelines Summary
1. PROs must be a current, state certified police officer with at least one year of field/road experience and be employed by a law enforcement agency.
2. PROs must complete required Division of Justice and
Community Services (DJCS) training and be certified as a PRO before entering the school.
3. DJCS requires grantee to assign one, full-time PRO officer per school. PROs must maintain an office in the assigned school and be present in that school at least 35 hours per week.
4. PROs will be stationed in a middle or high school.
5. PROs must be aware of and adhere to all school policies and school laws (Law Enforcement and Teacher
Code of Conduct).
6. A PRO’s function is not disciplinary. PROs are assigned to the school to provide prevention, mentoring, and safety.
WV PROs Guidelines and Procedures
http://www.djcs.wv.gov/pro/Documents/REVISED%20
PRO%20Guidelines.pdf
WV PROs Current Funding Opportunities
http://www.djcs.wv.gov/Current%20Funding%20Opportunities/Pages/default.aspx
WV Directory of PROs
http://www.djcs.wv.gov/pro/Documents/2013-2014/2013-2014%20PRO%20Directory.pdf
Sample Board of Education Agreement
http://www.djcs.wv.gov/pro/Documents/PROagree.pdf
Project Description
The West Virginia State-Level Initiative to Promote School Climate
and Safety Project’s over-arching goal is to improve school
climate and safety.
The toolkit contains resources to assist schools in assessing the need
for securing funds and the placement of Prevention Resource Officers
in their system. These resources are in both digital and hardcopy format for easy access.
Collaborative Partners
Collaborative Partners for the development of
the School Climate and Safety Toolkit include:
Dr. Michael J. Martirano
State Superintendent of Schools
Gayle C. Manchin
President, West Virginia Board of Education
“Safe
and
supportive
school
environments
are
crucial
to
students’ development, learning and
achievement. School violence affects
all of society and effectively addressing
it must become our shared goal and
our shared cause. The Prevention
Resource Officer Program has been
extremely successful at preventing
and intervening in episodes of school
Booth Goodwin
U.S. Attorney for the
violence. This unique collaborative
Southern District of
relationship is necessary to prevent and
West Virginia
respond to serious incidents and to help
schools foster the environments that are critical to a student’s
social and academic achievement.”
Dr. Dixie Billheimer
Chief Executive Officer
Joseph Thornton
Cabinet Secretary
Booth Goodwin, U.S. Attorney
for the Southern District
of West Virginia
W. Richard Staton
Director
This toolkit was developed to provide West Virginia schools with
resources to improve school climate and safety.
Contact:
April Dickenson, PRO Coordinator
304-558-8814, Ext. 53313
April.D.Dickenson@wv.gov
Funding for development of this
toolkit was provided by the
National Association of School
Boards of Education
Prevention
Resource
Officers in West Virginia
Schools
School Climate
&
Safety Toolkit