ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Students and staff in four local school districts will have an added layer of protection this year with school resource officers provided by the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department.

Belmont County Commissioners Josh Meyer and J.P. Dutton held the regularly scheduled board of commissioners meeting Wednesday morning without board President Jerry Echemann, who was out of county with his absence approved by the board.

Meyer and Dutton approved several motions, including a motion to enter into school resource officer contracts between four local school districts and the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department for the 2024-25 school year. Bellaire Local School District, Belmont-Harrison Joint Vocational School District, Bridgeport Exempted Village School District and Switzerland of Ohio Local School District all entered SRO contracts with Belmont County.

The contract with Bellaire states that the district’s current rate of reimbursement to the county is $33.83 per hour, including all wages and benefits for 200 eight-hour days for school resource officer services provided by a sheriff’s deputy. Terms are the same in contracts for Bridgeport and the vocational district.

The final SRO contract the commissioners approved is with Switzerland of Ohio, and it includes the reimbursement rate of $31.78 per hour including all wages and benefits for 177 eight-hour days for school resource officer services.

Meyer said the commissioners started entering contracts of this nature in 2017, with the Bridgeport Exempted Village School District being the first.

“We’re happy to provide this service. Unfortunately it’s a necessary service, as we’ve seen some unfortunate incidents happen across the country in schools,” Meyer said. “Hopefully this helps provide some safety and protection for those children and staff.”

Meyer also thanked the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office and the deputies assigned as resource officers for the continued collaboration to keep the students and staff of these schools safe. He noted that the village of Powhatan Point is in Belmont County while most of the Switzerland of Ohio district is in Monroe County. SRO services for Switzerland will be provided at Powhatan Elementary.

Meyer then moved to approve a quote form Electronic Specialist Co. of Dunbar, West Virginia, in the amount of $24,992 for a video touch panel conferencing system for Belmont County Common Pleas Judge Chris Berhalter’s courtroom. Meyer said he was approached by Common Pleas Judge John Vavra because the common pleas court was having video equipment issues that were unable to be repaired.

“We’re replacing a lot of that system up there so that they can be fully functional again. Times have changed. Obviously with COVID a lot of things are done via audio and video now, so we’re glad to help out,” Meyer said.

Both he and Dutton voted in favor.

The board then approved an estimate from R and D Trucking and Asphalt of St.Clairsville for sealing and striping at Sargus Juvenile Detention Center for $7,900 and at the Belmont County Jail for $12,119. It then approved estimates from Blackie and Sons Paving of Cadiz for sealing and striping at Senior Services of Belmont County for $6,654 and at the Department of Job and Family Services for $7,650.

“They’re giving the asphalt at those locations a seal and a fresh coat of paint to spiff those up and keep them maintained,” Meyer said.