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Cabell County Board highlights school resource officers, new safety staff and explosive-detection canine
Summary
At its regular meeting the Cabell County Board of Education recognized its school resource officers and newly hired school safety officers, reported plans to expand the program and praised an explosive-detection canine deployed this year during bomb threats.
At its regular meeting the Cabell County Board of Education recognized school resource officers and introduced newly hired school safety officers assigned to elementary and middle schools.
Keith Thomas, presenting the Instructional Leadership Services update, said the district is "proud to recognize, celebrate, and update you on our school resource officers and our school security officers," and listed SROs and school assignments. Thomas told the board that the district’s investment in SROs reflects a commitment to "maintaining and supporting a secure learning environment for our students."
Several officers and supervisors were named: Bill Templeton (Crossroads SRO and supervisor of Cabell County SROs), assistant supervisor Mike Talbot, JD McQuade (DARE coordinator at Huntington East Middle), Matt Newcomb (SRO at Cabell Midland), and Steven Chase Bennett (SRO at Huntington Middle). New school safety officers Roman Thompson and Kim Cooper were introduced for elementary assignments.
The presentation noted partnerships with local law-enforcement agencies and specific school assignments: Todd Neil was named SRO at Barbersville Middle School and Ernie Blackburn at Huntington Middle School. Thomas said the district provided a Q&A sheet in the board packet that describes the new security-officer roles and protocols.
Board members also discussed a district-funded explosive-detection canine assigned through a local police partnership. Thomas said the canine proved "very valuable" when deployed during bomb threats this year. An officer who spoke to the board described SROs’ work as including mentoring and referring students to psychological services when needed: "We're there to help the kids as well...we try to work with them," one officer said.
The presentation closed with a plan to continue growing the program. One presenter said he hopes to add another retired deputy by 2026, saying he already has "3 candidates" and expects to expand the program "at no cost to the district."
The board took no formal vote on the recognitions; the items were presented for acknowledgment and to inform future staffing and partnership decisions.
