By By Leonard Sparks

Published: 2:00 AM - 01/10/13

LIBERTY Libertys school board is looking at expanding the school resource officers hours from two days to five days in the wake of the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., last month. The board decided Tuesday to move its next safety committee meeting from next month to next week and to task the committee to craft terms for an agreement with the Village of Liberty, whose police department now has an SRO in the schools two days each week. The added days could raise district spending by an estimated $62,000. But the additional cost was outweighed by board members concerns for students and staff. Obviously we cant make schools fortresses, board President Dan Parkhurst said. But we still have a responsibility to do what we can to protect our children. The shooting deaths of 20 children and six staff members at Newtowns Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 have not only sparked an outcry among gun-control advocates, but also forced school districts around the country to re-examine the strength of their security measures. Districts in Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties increased police patrols of schools in the days following the shooting. Since then a number of districts have announced partnerships with local police to maintain an increased presence. In Liberty the police department once assigned an SRO to the schools five days a week, but had to cut back after the loss of federal funding, police Chief Scott Kinne said. An extra officer was deployed to the schools between the shooting and Christmas break, he said. The district would be required to cover 70 percent of the salary and benefits for any officer assigned to the schools full time, Kinne said. Village officials would also need to the support the idea, which could require hiring an extra police officer for patrol, he said. This is obviously something were not going to fix overnight, but I think its something we need to look at over the long term, Kinne said. lsparks@th-record.com

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Liberty considers expanding school security despite cost