The Catskill Central School District welcomes seven new part-time armed retired officers: Mr. Kyle Lyles, Mr. Chris Quinn, Mr. John Lyles, Mr. Michael Dodig, Mr. Larry DiDonato, Mr. Mark Greenlee and Mr. William Amend. The Board of Education approved the security resolution at its meeting on September 12, 2018.
The background and experiences of each officer varies as some have served with the State Police and others have served as officers in the county and other local municipalities. Nevertheless, a background check was conducted on each officer by the Superintendent of Schools and Chief Dave Darling, Catskill PD.
The armed retired officers are not School Resource Officers. School Resource Officers serve schools in a different capacity. The main objective of the armed retired officers is to circulate throughout the interior and exterior of our school buildings for an added level of safety for students, faculty and staff.
“My priority is to ensure that students receive a high quality education in a safe and secure learning environment,” said Catskill CSD Superintendent, Dr. Cook. “I am certain that other school districts will look at our security model to either emulate or implement in years to come.”