During Milford Town Council’s meeting Monday, Bob Cockburn brought up a topic weighing on the minds of many in recent weeks: school safety.

“After the incident in Newtown (Connecticut), people are asking what we should do here in Milford,” Cockburn, vice president of the Milford Town Council, explained. “I don’t believe teachers should carry guns, however, it’s a different world from when I was in school.”

He addressed town marshal Rich Miotto as he questioned what Milford School, the town of Milford and Wawasee Community School Corp. might be able to do to ensure student safety in education.

“Since the Newtown, Conn., shooting, myself and Officer Kreider have been approached by several parents who are concerned about the safety of their children,” Miotto explained.

Prior to the shooting, Miotto drove his patrol car around the blocks near the school at various times during the day, ensuring children were safe, but he rarely went inside the school. Since the shooting, Miotto has been inside the school, monitoring children as they enter each morning.

“As far as I’m concerned, those children are priceless assets,” Miotto said. “They’re the future of our country and I believe we need to protect them in anyway possible.”

In Miotto’s opinion, the best way to ensure school safety would likely be to place school resource officers inside schools. He agreed with Cockburn, teachers should not be required to carry guns, but stated someone on the campus ought to be equipped to handle dangerous situations, should they occur.

“Police officers train,” Miotto explained. “We train as much as possible. We run toward the gunfire when everyone else is running away.”

While many people do not see much of a threat in Milford School or Wawasee schools in general, Katie Young, kindergarten teacher at Milford School, agrees the discussion is necessary. “I think they’re taking the right steps,” Young said. “I’m glad they’re doing a discussion about it.”

Young attended the Milford Town Council meeting, where Miotto explained, “A school resource officer is more than just a guy with a gun.” He reminded the council a school resource officer is a mentor, a counselor and an educator of law-related topics.

Currently, Wawasee has one full-time resource officer for the school corporation. Officer Dalis Owens is stationed at Wawasee High School during the school year but can travel to other schools in the corporation as needed. To get a resource officer for Milford School would require approval from the corporation. The approximate cost to place an additional officer on the force is around $50,000 per year.

Milford hopes to schedule a meeting with the school corporation to discuss the potential for adding a school resource officer to the Milford Police Department. They hope to have people from Syracuse and North Webster, also part of the school corporation, attend the meeting.

“The corporation, which we’re a part of, has a presence in all three communities and I think all three should sit down and discuss our options,” Miotto said.

In a survey performed by the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police this month, 189 police agency chiefs in Indiana were asked whether they provided resource officers. Of the 74 responding, 51 percent said they provide a resource officer. When asked how the resource officer was funded, only 10 percent stated they were funded by the school, 43 percent stated their resource officer was funded by both the school and the town, and 48 percent were funded solely by the agency and town funds.

While the decision of whether to allow additional resource officers in Wawasee schools will be of the school board and superintendent, it is likely, according to the study, the responsibility for sustaining the officer will ultimately fall on the towns in the corporation.