Lakeland formalizes five-year SRO agreements

With the academic year underway, the Lakeland Central School District has formally recognized five-year agreements with the Yorktown Police Department and Westchester County Department of Public Safety, keeping eight School Resource Officers in Lakeland schools through the 2030-31 school year.

Five Yorktown police officers serve at schools within the Yorktown Police Department’s jurisdiction: Brian Nicholson at Lakeland High School, Joyce Pagliuca at George Washington Elementary School, Michael Pietraniello at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, Samantha Dubray at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School and Robert Pavletich at Lakeland Copper Beech Middle School.

They are separate from the three county officers who serve at Walter Panas High School, Lincoln-Titus Elementary School and Van Cortlandtville Elementary School, which are outside the Yorktown Police Department’s jurisdiction.

“This was a priority of our Board of Education, myself, and our school community, collectively. Through this collaboration and a shared commitment to student and staff safety, we were able to come together and find a path forward,” said Superintendent of Schools Karen Gagliardi during the Sept. 17 Lakeland Board of Education meeting.

The Lakeland Board of Education approved the five-year agreement with Westchester County on Aug. 13. The district and county publicly announced Sept. 14 that they had reached an agreement for the county officers. At its Sept. 17 meeting, the board formally acknowledged the five-year agreements with both Westchester County and the Yorktown Police Department.

Yorktown Police Chief Justin Foley attended the Sept. 17 meeting — separately from the county agreement — to acknowledge the partnership between the Yorktown Police Department and Lakeland Central School District through the Yorktown PD’s SRO program.

“Our outstanding men and women in the SRO Unit have been at their schools since day one of the school year,” Police Chief Justin Foley later told Yorktown News. “They will continue to ensure our schools remain a safe place where students can learn, grow and succeed while being role models and mentors for our youth.”

He added that “strong relationships between YPD, the school districts, parents and students will always be a priority for us here.”

The SRO program faced an uncertain future earlier this year as the district and county grappled with rising costs. The renewed county contract comes at a significantly higher cost, but keeps the county officers in Lakeland schools for the next five years.

Continuing the program was something Board President Michael Daly said Aug. 13 that “the board wanted, the public wanted,” and the SROs “wanted to come back.”

SROs have served in Lakeland schools since fall 2018, according to Westchester County. The program is intended to provide an additional layer of safety while allowing officers to build relationships with students, staff and families.

“One of our priorities in Westchester County is strengthening the connection between law enforcement and the communities they serve, and that relationship starts with our young people. School resource officers are about much more than having a police officer in a school building,” Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said on Sept. 14. “They get to know the students, the teachers, administrators, the families, and they build relationships and establish trust long before there's an ever emergency or a need for police intervention.”

Lakeland is one of five school districts that contract with Westchester County for county SROs. The others are Somers, North Salem, Katonah-Lewisboro and Hendrick Hudson.

Both agreements will remain in effect through the end of the 2030-31 school year.