SAUGUS Your Local News & Sports Online. Subscribe & Scan Here! CAT D Vol. 26, No.8 CAT WELCOME, NEW CENTENARIAN! H TE -FREE- www.advocatenews.net Published Every Friday 781-233-4446 Friday, February 22, 2024 Town Meeting 2024 A debate over how to fund a School resource Offi cer looms as potential obstacle for town’s decision makers By Mark E. Vogler aving a well-trained School Resource Officer (SRO) working inside the Saugus Middle-High School “can only help make the school safer” and “can deter an act of violence,” Saugus Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli said this week. “We haven’t had one yet in Saugus, but there’s a lot of parental support for it,” Chief Ricciardelli told The Saugus Advocate. “It’s good community relations and opens up a dialogue with kids. It can build a rapport with them,” the chief said. “I’ve been talking to school committee members and the school superintendents for the last few years. What they need to consider, obviously, is that there’s a cost to it,” he said. Ricciardelli offered his HAPPY LEAP YEAR BIRTHDAY! Sadie Thibault relaxed during an interview this week in her Charles Street home while holding a 1949 wedding photo of her and her late husband Alfred. Sadie will celebrate her 25th Leap Year birthday next Thursday (Feb. 29) as she turns 100. Please see inside for more photos of Saugus’ next Centenarian and this week’s “The Advocate Asks.” (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) ~ Home of the Week ~ Come visit this conveniently located, well-maintained two-family home situated on a corner lot. This property showcases a roof installed in 2015 and a new heating system. The first-floor unit has 2 bedrooms, and 1 bathroom, with an in-unit laundry facility and access to a patio. The second-floor unit offers 3 bedrooms, and 1 bathroom, featuring a cathedral-ceiling living room, a recently remodeled kitchen, and hardwood floors throughout. The property is near a park and public transportation. Tenants will remain with the property. 46 SERINO WAY, SAUGUS Carpenito Real Estate is now Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Commonwealth Real Estate OFFERED AT $725,000 (781) 233-7300 335 Central St. Saugus Commonmoves.com ©2024 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently owned and operated franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of Columbia Insurance Company, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. Equal Housing Opportunity. reaction to last Thursday night’s (Feb. 15) School Committee meeting when several Town Meeting members, parents of schoolchildren and others called on the School Committee to take action. The chief did not attend the meeting, but was aware of the strong public sentiment supporting the addition of an SRO. “We applied for a grant for an SRO but didn’t get it. It’s a no-brainer if you get a grant,” the chief said. “Salar y and benefits for one office are about $100,000. Right now, we’re waiting to see what we can do. The biggest obstacle is the money,” he said. “I think it can only help, having an officer in school that kids can talk to everyday. Community policing in general is great if you can do it. If the money gets appropriated, we will work with the School Department.” School officials did not include funding for an SRO in their proposed budget for the 2025 Fiscal Year that begins July 1. But the School Committee has drafted an article for the May Annual Town Meeting requesting the position be funded by a Supplemental Student Support Reserve Fund created by Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree and approved by Town Meeting two years ago. At last week’s meeting, first-year Town Meeting Members Matthew Parlante (Precinct 2) and Frank V. Federico (Precinct 7) sharply questioned how the School Committee could be committed to making the SRO a priority when it wasn’t funded within the proposed operating budget. “We fail to acknowledge that we have inner city issues,” said Parlante, a Revere firefighter who noted that the city he works in has three SROs. “We have out-of-control fights as recent as last Thursday (Feb. 8) in our schools,” TOWN MEETING| SEE PAGE 2 Mid-grade Regular $3.88 95 64 95 Over 45 Years of Excellence! Full Service $3.68 Order online at angelosoil.com
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