Two new school resource officer positions will be implemented in South Lyon Community Schools.

The board met Monday night and unanimously approved contracts with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, which operates a Lyon Township substation and will provide the three deputies. A contract for a resource officer at South Lyon East High School was renewed while two new contracts were approved for resource officers at South Lyon High School, as well as Millennium and Centennial Middle Schools. The two middle schools will be covered by one deputy. Deputies will be in the schools and at different events to interact with students during the school year, which is 40 weeks. Once school is out, then the deputies would be utilized throughout the township for a number of things. Board members agreed the yearlong contract is beneficial for a number of reasons as deputies would be available for additional enforcements but could also step up community policing efforts or alcohol or tobacco stings.

Substation Commander/Lieutenant Mark Venus tells WHMI it’s a great partnership, everyone works well together and it will benefit for every community involved. With all of the incidents happening across the country, he says there are benefits to having officers around for children’s safety. He adds it’s also good for the kids because they get to know the officer, which makes them friendlier to officers outside of the school setting. Venus says there were incidents at the middle school level last year. He says it being a stepping stone to the high school and considering the amount of students between the two schools, Venus thinks the district just felt it was time for an officer to be there as well.

The cost of each contract is roughly $135,000 and will be being split between Lyon Township, the City of South Lyon, Salem Township and the school district. (JM)