SNOW HILL – A memorandum of understanding approved last week formalizes the county’s longstanding school deputy program.
Last week the Worcester County Commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and Worcester County Public Schools regarding the school deputy program.
“We have a phenomenal working relationship with Worcester County Public Schools,” Sheriff Matt Crisafulli said.
While Crisafulli said this is the first MOU between the school system and the sheriff’s office, the school deputy program has been in place successfully for years. The MOU outlines the objectives of the program and the responsibilities of school deputies. Commissioner Chip Bertino questioned whether the agreement specified there would be a deputy in every school.
“I didn’t quite see that in here,” Bertino said. “It said more like we will try to or attempt to but that’s something that you well know the commissioners have felt very strongly about for a number of years.”
Crisafulli said his number one passion was keeping the school population safe.
“We will have deputies in the schools,” he said. “I am down a few spots but what I’ve been doing is backfilling with overtime, backfilling with deputies from our field services, so our schools will be covered.”
Commissioner Diana Purnell questioned the language in the agreement regarding duties of deputies in schools. Crisafulli explained that deputies would work in conjunction with school principals and guidance counselors and the like on diagnosing law enforcement related problems.
Crisafulli added that his staff worked well with school and school system officials to ensure the safety of everyone on school grounds. Superintendent Lou Taylor agreed.
“Our relationship with the sheriff’s department is phenomenal,” he said.
The MOU between the sheriff’s office and the school system is expected to be renewed annually.
