CVCC to get school resource officer

July 21 city council meeting

by Melissa Martin

Brecksville City Council approved a memorandum of understanding with the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center establishing a school resource officer in time for the start of the school year.

This is the third school resource officer in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District that the city of Brecksville will fund. Brecksville police officers Bob Maxwell and Mark Krzynowek are at the BBH Middle School.

The city of Broadview Heights funds the school resource officer at the high school, José Garcia.

Each of the district’s schools has been assigned a full-time school resource officer since 2023.

According to the legislation, the school resource officer is intended to promote school safety by “building a positive school climate in which everyone feels safe and students are supported to succeed.” The program also seeks to reduce violent crime committed by and against youth in the community by supporting safe, secure and orderly learning environments for students, teachers and staff.

“The role of the school resource officer is not to enforce school discipline or punish students,” the memorandum of understanding stipulates. “The school resource officer will serve as a positive role model to instill in students good moral standards, good judgment and discretion, respect for other students, and a sincere concern for the school community.”

Brecksville is responsible for 50% of the compensation to the officer assigned to CVCC, and the school is responsible for the other 50%. Costs include salary, retirement, Medicare, Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation and medical/dental/vision/life insurance and exclude all other costs associated with employment, such as overtime, longevity, professional pay, sick cash-out and uniform allowance.

Traffic study

Council authorized TMS Engineers Inc. to conduct an independent third-party traffic study of the Valor Acres site in an amount not to exceed $7,545.

According to the proposal, the work will include the review of reports to “insure there are no fundamental mistakes that would require road or signal improvements to Brecksville and/or Miller roads.”

Michael Schweickart, president of TMS Engineers Inc., said his firm plans to review past traffic reports, including the Interstate 77 and Miller Road interchange study, two Valor Acres studies and the TMS True North study. TMS also plans to review the need for traffic signal upgrades and review any need for restriping on Miller Road, the need for turn lanes in the area and to determine whether First Energy’s move from its Miller Road headquarters will impact traffic conditions in the area from the time plans for Valor Acres were first completed.

Council also approved:

  • An ordinance accepting the bid of Leach Excavating LLC in the amount of $302,012 for the Whitewood Road Storm Sewer Improvement Project. Also passed was a motion authorizing the provision of final design and construction management services of Donald G. Bohning & Associates Inc. in the amount of $16,710 for the project.
  • A five-year agreement with Johnson Controls for fire alarm and sprinkler maintenance and monitoring for the Community Center and Human Services Center in the amount of $11,744 per year.
  • A resolution authorizing the mayor to submit a 2027 Community Development Supplemental Grant application to Cuyahoga County for rehabilitation of the City Hall baseball fields.