ANOTHER OFFICER IN THE SCHOOLS

A police officer at Louis J. Schultz School for seventh graders? The notion seems a bit unsettling.

But the Cape Girardeau School District and Cape Girardeau Police Department have agreed to station an officer at Schultz with addition oversight at the district's elementary schools.

The district's first police resource officer at the high school has worked out well. Cpl. Barry Hovis is stationed at the high school and covers the junior high as well. He began his duties there in 1997.

Hovis and the new officer at Schultz would help when problems break out at the school: fights, drugs and the like. It's chilling to hear Police Chief Rick Hetzel say that problems seen at the high school a decade ago are now cropping up at the school for seventh graders.

In addition, a large part of the duties for the school-based officers is education, and that educational focus is crucial at the younger grades. Drugs and alcohol are cropping up at much younger ages, and not just in Cape Girardeau. The school resource officers conduct classroom presentations, coordinate group discussions and teach crime prevention to staff and faculty.

It is also an opportunity for students to meet law enforcement officers under favorable conditions, not just when crimes occur. This trust between officers and students can help prevent youngsters from getting into trouble.

Three-fourths of the funding is paid through a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The school district picks up the remaining 25 percent. But the Kiwanis Club has generously made a multiyear commitment to help fund the position.

This program is an excellent example of community working together to help steer children in the right direction.