Monongalia County Schools just warmed up its safety net for every student, in every classroom, in the district.
Four new safety officers were recently hired – and their job description is a notch above those of the district’s current cadre of school resource officers, who have long been a presence in the hallway and on school grounds across Morgantown and Mon.
The difference between the two sets of officers, Superintendent Eddie Campbell Jr. said, is that the new hires are licensed to use force to neutralize the worst-case scenario of an active shooter in a building.
Said officers are deputized and authorized to carry concealed weapons in their charge, he said.
“They operate under the auspices of the sheriff’s department,” the superintendent said. “They would be allowed to respond as appropriate.”
Their addition ensures that every high school, middle school and elementary school in Mon will now have a safety presence, which Campbell and Sheriff Todd Forbes – himself a former resource officer in the district – also hope will be preventative one, as well.
Students at Morgantown High, University High and Clay-Battelle already walk through weapons detectors on their way to class every morning.
The high-tech devices are portable and have been deployed at sporting events and graduation exercises across the district.
Steve Ford, Curt Thomas, Randy Stockett and Justin Lawless, the new hires, will be in buildings across the district to introduce themselves, once the weather breaks and students are back in school, Campbell said.
Ford is backed up by 25 of years of experience in his new job. That’s how long he served as an officer in the Morgantown Police Department.
Thomas is a former deputy who served 20 years in the Monongalia’s County Sheriff’s Department.
Stockett was also a Mon deputy for 15 years.
After a 15-year hitch in the U.S. Marine Corps, Lawless retired from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Forbes praised the officers for their commitment to protect and serve a particularly vulnerable population.
“Each brings a wealth of experience and dedication to ensuring the safety of our students and staff,” the sheriff said.
Their hiring also reflects a new reality in schools nationwide in the 21st century – where gun violence is now an inevitability, rather than an anomaly.
In 2024, gunfire crackled in the hallways of 36 schools across the U.S., with seven children listed among the 16 fatalities. A total of 50 people were also wounded in such incidents over the same year.
The most recent came this past Nov. 18 in a high school parking in Memphis, Tenn., where a student was shot – and survived his wounds.
