Derry Area School District approves MOU with Pennsylvania State Police, presents safety and security staffing and funding plan

The Derry Area School District Board of Directors on Jan. 23 approved a memorandum of understanding with the Pennsylvania State Police Kiski Valley station that will run Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2026, at no cost to the district, and received a staff presentation on the district’s safety and security program.

The presentation, led by district administrators and security staff, outlined state requirements under Act 55 (2024) for school safety coordinators and annual staff training, the district’s decision to employ school security guards, and state grant funding the district has used to add staff and mental-health supports.

Why it matters: The MOU formalizes which law-enforcement agency will be the responding entity at district schools and signals a partnership intended to expand training, patrol familiarity with buildings and relationship-building with students. Board members and administrators said the district faces a recent shift from grant-funded security positions toward ongoing local funding to sustain armed security guards and related functions.

District officials said the district now employs full-time school security guards (two at present) who meet National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) training and Act 235 lethal-weapons certification, and who were hired beginning in August 2023 after state grant funds arrived. Ken Main, the district’s director of…