ALBANY COUNTY — Berne-Knox-Westerlo will have a school resource officer after all.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy announced at an Aug. 29 press conference on school safety initiatives that the county will fund the position as part of a wider effort to bolster school safety.

McCoy said that, when he learned the district was cutting its SRO program as part of its contingency budget, which forces the district to rely on the same tax levy it had last year, he reached out to Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple. 

“I said, ‘What if we use this money and put that resource officer back in that school?’” McCoy said. “It was a no-brainer. He goes, ‘I love it. Let’s do it.’” 

The money he referenced comes from a BusPatrol program, which school districts in Albany County started joining in 2022. Buses are outfitted with cameras so that motorists illegally passing buses can be fined; 60 percent of the money goes to BusPatrol and 40 percent to Albany County.

County spokeswoman Mary Rozak told The Enterprise that the county received nearly $620,000 out of a little more than $1.2 million collected in fines. 

BKW Superintendent Bonnie Kane said at the press conference that the SRO program has “proven vital for our students: for peace of mind, for resources, for support and education from a member of law enforcement who really has become a role model for many in our community.”

“The program allows our students to build positive relationships with officers within their own school, and helps bridge the gap between the school and the larger community,” she said. 

The BKW Board of Education had refused to cut the roughly $81,000 program from its initial 2024-25 budget, which would have raised taxes by nearly 5.1 percent, exceeding the state-set 4.35 percent tax cap. Because it was above the cap, the board needed a supermajority of residents — 60-percent plus one — to approve the budget.

After the budget failed with a 58.7 percent approval rate, the board again refused to cut the SRO program, which would have brought the budget under the cap, and made no other changes to the budget, instead relying on outreach efforts to bring more supportive residents to the ballot. The effort failed, however, and BKW was forced to cut over $560,000 from its initial proposal. 

Six school districts now participate in the BusPatrol program: Bethlehem, BKW, Guilderland, North Colonie, South Colonie, and Voorheesville. 

In addition to spending the BusPatrol funds on an officer at BKW, two other initiatives were announced at the Aug. 29 press conference: Reimbursing defensive-driving courses for students in participating districts, and a program to prevent youth violence, headed by the county’s Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center.

The program to stem violence will be held in collaboration with the county’s probation office and will be run in schools and after-school programs, sometimes using “certain parts of county properties as remote spaces to unwind and heal for students and their families,” according to a news release from McCoy’s office. 

“Activities will include education, monthly support groups, skill building, including emotion regulation and coping, and creating youth ambassadors to help spread the word.”

Rozak said the cost of the programs would be variable but that there were sufficient funds to cover them.