During its regular meeting the Cabell County Board of Education heard a combined update on school safety staffing and youth mental health training.

Mister Keith Thomas introduced the district’s school resource officers and school security officers and invited representatives from the Cabell County Sheriff’s Office and multiple municipal police departments to stand for recognition. Named personnel included Lieutenant Bill Templeton (Crossroads SRO supervisor), Lieutenant Mike Talbot (assistant supervisor), JD McQuade (Huntington East SRO and DARE coordinator), Deputy Matt Newcomb (SRO at Cabell Midland), and Stephen Chase Bennett (SRO at Huntington Middle School). Thomas also introduced two school safety officers assigned to elementary schools: Roman Thompson and Kim Cooper. Thomas described these hires as part of the district’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a secure learning environment.

The board and presenters noted a district-funded canine explosive-detection dog based in Barboursville and said the animal had been deployed during two bomb threat responses earlier in the year; administrators called the canine a valuable asset.

On mental-health training, Thomas reported that PJ Samuels serves as the district’s lead trainer for Youth Mental Health First Aid and has trained “over 200 professional staff.” The district’s stated goal is to train all professional staff in Cabell County Schools, though Thomas said scheduling those trainings across many work days is the primary challenge.

Board members thanked trainers PJ Samuels, Jesse Scott and Sarah Fox for their work. Law enforcement participants emphasized relationship-building roles for SROs, noting they regularly attend events, teach DARE programming and connect students to supports. No formal board action was taken; the presentation concluded with photographs and brief comments.