Merrimack Schools To Continue Partnership With Police

MERRIMACK, NH — School safety will remain the number one priority at the Merrimack schools, and despite the leadership change at the School District, the schools' partnership with police will remain, said Mark McLaughlin, a new superintendent of schools for Merrimack. He said many unfortunate incidents have been prevented in Merrimack due to the district working closely with police for the past several years. This month, the School Board has expressed intent to continue its agreement with the Police Department, and an additional paragraph will be added to that agreement by the start of this school year.

"For many, many years now, we have worked together and it's one of the reasons, knock on wood, that we have one of the safest school districts in the state of New Hampshire," said Police Chief Denise Roy during a School Board meeting July 15. She also gave credit to the school resource officer.

McLaughlin, who was recently promoted to superintendent, said the School District's partnership with the Police Department was established through the previous superintendent and he plans to continue it. Through the district's memorandum of understanding (MOU) with police, many unfortunate incidents have been prevented, he said, though it's difficult to say how many incidents would have occurred had this partnership not been established.

"How many bad things have been prevented that nobody will ever know about, because we have that partnership?" said McLaughlin. "We just know that it's beyond count."

The School District's agreement with police, adopted in 2011, establishes how school officials are to communicate with the Police Department in cases of criminal offenses on school property. Per agreement, the principal of each Merrimack school is to report to police incidents such as drug and alcohol use, weapon possession and assault. The MOU also recommends that school officials regularly meet with police to discuss the scope of such problems and to find strategies for reducing and eliminating them.

The MOU lists certain types of crimes that are mandatory to be reported to police, including any drug sales, firearm-related incidents and events requiring medical help beyond basic first aid. Reporting such incidents to police will ensure an investigation occurs into whether a criminal act was committed, the agreement states. Other incidents can be reported at the discretion of the principal — certain types of simple assault, theft of property valued at less than $50 and refusing to conform to school rules.

Police are also to notify school officials when a student is arrested, if that information is relevant to the safety of that student, the agreement states. Non-criminal activity that is relevant to a student's safety may also be shared by police, including threats of suicide and a student being victimized by a parent — such information may be shared with the School District while following confidentiality regulations, according to the agreement.

Next month, the School Board will consider adding a new paragraph to the MOU, to be in line with state law, said McLaughlin. The paragraph addresses the School District's plan to secure student data that is shared between the School District and police. Per state law, the School District is also required to keep an inventory of technology it uses to store such data. The School Board is scheduled to update the policy next month after a public comment period.