New backpacks and school supplies. The clang of lockers and the squeak of sneakers across just-waxed hallways.
It’s back-to-school season, a season that usually brings to mind students and teachers.
But the people who keep our schools safe — whether they’re called school resource officers, security officers or go by another title — also return to school with the same sense of excitement and first-day jitters as the kids.
Two AFSCME public safety professionals who hail from the Northeast returned the classroom this fall as freshmen themselves — both capping off long careers as police officers.
And both are learning how to wear many new hats that come with being the sole public safety figure within a school, navigating being cop, counselor, friend and role model.
Connecticut cop turned school security officer
For Bart Deeley, a former detective sergeant who spent three decades working in law enforcement in Connecticut, becoming an armed security officer at Lakeview High School in Litchfield, Connecticut, means always being proactive.
“You have to extend yourself to the students. My main purpose is to build a positive connection. I want students to come knock on my door. I need them to entrust in me,” says Deeley. “I have to shape a culture of safety, prevention and awareness.”
To do that, Deeley is the first person in the school in the morning and the last to leave when school’s over.
“I say good morning to everyone when they get in, and good night to everyone when they leave.”
Unlike being on patrol in a community where you mostly interact with adults, says Deeley, “you have to remind yourself that these are kids. How you deal with them, how you approach them — you’re the one setting the example.”
And that example is often modeling best de-escalation techniques, something Deeley has been trained on — and continues to get trained on — thanks to his newly formed union last year, AFSCME Local 75 (Region 20 School District), Council 4.
Deeley started last winter, and so far, he says, “the kids have been great.” That includes one of his own — his son.
(To avoid any undue embarrassment, when his son is in the cafeteria during lunch hour, he gets a sub to watch over the lunch room).
