05/14/2012 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Sheila Unzen 14791 Geneva Avenue North Hugo, Mn 55038 caden6179@q.com Attention: Mayor Reinert and City Council Members 600 Town Center Parkway Lino Lakes, Mn 55014 May 10, 2012 Dear Honorable Jeff Reinert and City Council Members Dale, Stoesz, Jeff Odonnell, Dave Roeser and Rob Rafferty, My name is Sheila Unzen. I am an employee with Centennial School District. I'm not sure if you are aware that a decision will be made on Monday, May l4th to determine whether or not the Elementary School Resource Officer position (SRO) will be eliminated. I've worked with Centennial School District for the past four years and have seen the importance of what the SRO at Rice Lake Elementary has done for the staff and children and it is clear to me that this position is a necessity, not a luxury. Officer Young directs traffic before and after school and we have not had one accident on Birch Street this year. When he is not here, traffic control is out of control. Officer Young has shown us the importance of building rapport with children so that they will respect officers and see them as someone who is there to help and guide them in a positive way. He personalizes his job and It is clear that each child that he interacts with he sees as his own. He spends much of his time getting to know the children from Kindergarten on up to 5th grade so that when he enters the 5th grade classroom to teach the DARE program they see him as someone they know and trust who is leading them down the right path, away from drugs, violence, smoking, and addiction. I understand that the Chief's goal is to keep the DARE program but eliminate the SRO position. This would keep the DARE program by having a random police officer come in off of the streets into the classroom. As a Sign Languag.e interpreter in a 5th grade classroom who has just completed interpreting every 5t grade students' DARE essays, I have felt the necessity of having an Officer in the buildings on a regular basis to build relationships with the children. The majority of the students did not just talk about Why not to do drugs or drink alcohol, they personalized it with how Officer Young impacted their lives by making it real with his personal stories and experience. As a staff of Centennial and as a parent of elementary and high school aged children, I am requesting that you intervene in this decision with the best interest of children in mind. The elementary age is a valuable window of opportunity to influence these