The Coach Hall Foundation will pay initial training costs for new SRO in Fairport Harbor Schools
Aug. 28—Fairport Harbor Schools is receiving a financial donation that will cover the cost of training for the district's new school resource officer.
The Coach Hall Foundation, a nonprofit organization, will pay the $399 fee for Fairport Harbor Schools SRO Ana "Cristina" Medina to take a basic training course that is required by Ohio law.
Fairport Harbor Schools Superintendent William Billington made that announcement at last week's School Board meeting.
"The foundation is going to give Cristina a scholarship to pay for her SRO training," he said. "So that's fantastic."
Billington recently received an email from a foundation representative, stating that the group would make the donation.
The Coach Hall Foundation, which is based in Chardon, strives to provide effective means to protect against school violence and improve the quality of life in school communities.
This organization is named after Frank Hall, who gained national prominence because of the 2012 Chardon High School shooting in which three students were killed and three others wounded.
Hall then served as an assistant football coach and study hall monitor at Chardon High School.
He was in the cafeteria on the morning of Feb. 27, 2012, when a 17-year-old boy pulled out a gun and began shooting students. Hall charged toward the shooter and eventually chased him out building, helping to prevent further carnage.
Tim Armelli, president of The Coach Hall Foundation, said leaders of the organization learned through a News-Herald story about the SRO position being created and implemented in Fairport Harbor School District.
"We were just so happy when Fairport Harbor Schools decided to put an SRO on staff," he said. "It's just so important, that front-line person. It's just so essential to our kids' safety.
"And not only that, but you're putting a responsible role model in a position in the schools where kids will see them day in and day out, and develop real positive relationships with law enforcement. SROs do so many great things."
Medina, who had served on the Fairport Harbor Auxiliary Police Unit since 2022, graduated from the Lakeland Community College Basic Police Academy in July.
Fairport Harbor Village Council, at its Aug. 15 meeting, appointed Medina as a full-time officer in the community's Police Department. Police Chief David Koran assigned Medina to perform SRO duties in the school district, which began its 2023-24 academic year on Aug. 23.
Initially, Medina will work in the district's two buildings: McKinley Elementary and Fairport Harding Middle and High School.
Eventually, the officer will be based in a single building, once Fairport Harbor's new pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade school is constructed. However, the school, which will be located on green space next to Harding on Vine Street, isn't projected to open for classes until the start of the 2025-26 academic year.
Wages and benefits for the SRO will be funded 80 percent by the school district and 20 percent by the village. During the summer and winter break, Medina will be re-assigned to normal patrol duties for the police department.
Ohio law mandates that a newly hired school resource officer complete at least 40 hours of SRO training within one year of their appointment.
Armelli said specialized training is important for a police officer who has been assigned duty as an SRO.
"The training covers things like how to de-escalate situations with kids, because kids' minds work different than adults," he said. "The program also goes into the differences between school law and how (an officer's) job would be on the street. So they have to be able to separate that stuff."
