Cape School Board member resigns to become DARE, resource officer

School board member and former vice president of the Cape Girardeau School Board Luther Bonds has resigned from his seat for a new role in the school system.

Bonds was elected to the board in 2009 and served as vice president during the 2010-2011 school year. He turned in his resignation July 22. He will assume the position of a school resource officer in the district's elementary schools when the year begins Aug. 18. He will also serve as a DARE officer for the middle and alternative schools and be available for private schools in the area.

Interim superintendent Pat Fanger said she is thrilled Bonds will be in the position and that when sharing the news of Bonds' new position with workers in the school district that she has gotten a positive response.

"He is great with the kids, the teachers and the staff and has been a good asset to us for several years," she said.

For the past year, Bonds has been an officer with the Cape Girardeau Police Department. He is also the former director of the Cape Girardeau Boys and Girls Club. He was on duty with the police department Wednesday and unable to comment on his new position.

Bonds' compensation for his duties in his position will not come from the Cape Girardeau School District, but from the police department. Fanger said the school district currently pays a percentage of the compensation for the district's other two student resource officers.

Lt. Rick Price of the Cape Girardeau Police Department oversees the DARE program and will be training Bonds as an officer in the coming weeks.

The police department determines how to choose officers for the DARE program through testing. Price said Bonds scored highest of any applicant for the program.

Sgt. Jason Selzer said the department is excited about Bonds' accepting the position because he will be able to work in harmony with the school district.

According to a news release from the school district, applications will be accepted through Aug. 11 to fill the vacancy left by Bonds.

A person will be appointed by the board to serve from August until the next school board election in April. To qualify to be a member, candidates must be a U.S. citizen, a resident taxpayer of the school district, a resident of Missouri for at least one year before being elected or appointed and at least 24 years old. For more information on how to apply, call board secretary Beth Poyner at 335-1867.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

301 N. Clark St., Cape Girardeau, MO