Southern Regional Moves Ahead With Plans For Class III Officers

STAFFORD TOWNSHIP, NJ - The Southern Regional.Board of Education has given the okay to have Class III police officers in place by the start of the school year in September, according to a report in The Sandpaper.

"They’re subject to all the training requirements as another police officer, but the only difference is they can’t work as much, there’s a limit to how much they can make, and they don’t have benefits," Superintendent Craig Henry said . "But they can be in service as a uniformed officer to a school district."

Two of the district's security guards officers are retiring, so the district use their salary money to help fund the Class III officers.

Southern will be hiring four officers at $27 per hour. They will work up to 30 hours per week during the school year, Craig said.

Preliminary plans call for three Class III officers to patrol the high school's two building and one inside the middle school.

The school board also approved hiring four additional part-time security guards to rotate with the current security guards in the buildings watching the main entrances and patrolling the schools, Craig said.

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