Tamaqua Area School District plans to employ three police officers on a part-time basis starting this fall.

Meanwhile school board members still hope to have district staff trained to carry concealed weapons on a volunteer basis, and say that state law empowers them to do so.

“We got a grant for the school police officers. We’re also seeking an additional grant to keep it for next year. On top of that, we would like to have another layer of defense, and get the training laid out in SB 621 for other employees of the district,” said Nick Boyle, a Tamaqua Area school board member.

The school board voted Tuesday night to hire three veteran police officers on a part-time basis. They hired Henry Woods of Tamaqua at a rate of $22.50; Kyle Woodward of York, $23.50; and Ronald Kazakavage of Nesquehoning, $24.50.

Woods is the chief of the Tamaqua Borough Police Department. Kazakavage is a former state trooper and Woodward was employed by Baltimore County Police Department in Maryland .

The district still needs court approval to officially employ the officers.

They would be the first police officers officially employed by the district. In the past, the district has called upon the Tamaqua Police Department during after-school events, and as needed for incidents in district buildings.

“We believe in having the expertise of these individuals who have certainly a great deal of experience in law enforcement. It provides these students with security during the school day and possibly after the school day at times to be able to help secure our facilities, keep everyone safe,” said Raymond Kinder, superintendent, Tamaqua Area School District.

If approved, the officers will be armed, and authorized to issue citations and detain people until local police are notified.

Part of their responsibility will include doing a security assessment of the district, and making recommendations for improvements.

“They’ll help with security things like assessments, ways to make our facilities safer, identify problem areas, and helping us develop plans to be able to address them,” Kinder said.

The positions will be funded through a $50,000 state grant the district received last year. Boyle said the positions will continue as long as the district can get grants to cover them.

Boyle said the district is also still actively looking at training school employees who are willing to carry concealed weapons to provide additional security.

In 2018, board members passed policy 705, which set up a system to allow and train armed teachers. The teachers’ union filed a lawsuit to overturn the policy. In 2019, the school board rescinded the policy because the state was considering a law that would prohibit armed school security guards from holding another position with the district.

The final version of the law, SB 621 eliminated that requirement. Boyle said now, a teacher or custodian can be armed if they complete training in accordance with the law.

“If you have a teacher who wants to go and get his training, or hers, they can do that job as well. If you have a police officer who left the force and becomes a teacher, they could do that job,” Boyle said.

Boyle said that the majority of Tamaqua voters showed during last fall’s election that they support the direction the school board and administration are going. School board members who supported Policy 705 were re-elected last fall despite a challenge from a slate of candidates who made overturning the policy part of their platform.

“That tells you there’s a silent majority out there that have faith in the administration and the board of directors,” Boyle said.