HAZLET — Five Class III special law enforcement officers have been appointed to provide security in the Hazlet Township Public School District.
During a meeting on Sept. 6, the members of the Township Committee appointed Thomas Ferrari, Richard Gizzi, Vincent Quinn, George Mundo and Christopher K. Doxbeck as Class III special law enforcement officers for the 2022-23 school year.
According to municipal officials, each Class III officer will receive a salary of $35 per hour, which will be reimbursed by the school district’s Board of Education. The officers will not be eligible to receive health benefits or be entitled to enroll in the pension system.
A Class III officer, also referred to as a school security officer, is a retired law enforcement officer who provides security to students, staff members and visitors in a school. A school security officer arrives before students enter the school and leaves after the last student departs for the day. School security officers are trained and qualified to carry weapons and are armed while on duty.
Hazlet has eight public schools, comprising one pre-kindergarten school, five elementary schools, one middle school and one high school: the Sycamore Drive Early Childhood Learning Center, the Lilian Drive Elementary School, the Middle Road Elementary School, the Raritan Valley Elementary School, the Beers Street Elementary School, the Cove Road Elementary School, the Hazlet Middle School and Raritan High School.
According to Superintendent of Schools Scott Ridley, one Class III officer is permanently assigned to Raritan High School and one Class III officer is permanently assigned to the Hazlet Middle School.
The remaining three Class III officers serve the pre-kindergarten and five elementary schools on a rotating basis.
Among the school district’s five Class III officers, three were already on staff and two are new hires, Ridley said.
In other business, the Township Committee members passed a resolution authorizing Chief Financial Officer Christopher Clinton to make a $310,857 payment to S. Brothers Inc. for road improvements to Coach Drive, Wagon Road, Surrey Drive and Carriage Road.
And, committee members authorized Clinton to make a $677,900 payment to Lucas Brothers Inc. for the 2022 road improvement program.