BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

MASSENA -- Two candidates were interviewed to work as an armed in-school police officer at the Massena Central School District.

At the July 11 Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Pat Brady declined to name them but said he expects the village will make an announcement at some point in the near future.

"We did do interviews today. We're hoping to have a candidate ... it is going to be a village employee and they'll be looking to make a recommendation to the village board," Brady said.

He said 10 people applied for the position, which officials refer to as a "school resource officer," but not all were qualified.

He said the two that made it to the interview stage are "very highly qualified."

Brady in late February said the officer won't be there "to act as a disciplinarian."

"That's a fine line we want to make sure that doesn't get crossed,” Brady said. A job description says the officer would not be involved in student disciplinary measures.

On the same night Brady made that remark, Massena Police Dept. Lt. Jason Olson said the officer will be armed but the gun will be kept in a secure holster designed so a person can't just yank out the weapon.

"That firearm would never leave that officer's person," he said. "The holsters that we use are what we call a triple-retention holster. I'm not going to go into specifics for safety reasons. There's a sequence of three things you have to do to get the gun out of that belt."

The district is using funds from the federal Title IV program to pay the officer.

The board is considering two options for hiring the police officer. The first is to hire a retired officer for about $30,000 per year. The other is to hire a current officer at about $85,000 per year, plus salary and benefits.

Brady did not say whether the two interviewees are current or retired officers.