MASSENA -- A school resource officer will continue to roam the halls of schools in the Massena School District but one board member is questioning the need for the SRO to be armed. 

At a recent board of education meeting, Board member Robert LeBlanc raised concerns with the arming of SRO Michael Flynn, who is the Massena Police Department's juvenile officer. 

LeBlanc pointed to firearms being the number one cause of death for children in the United States as a primary concern. 

"So, I don’t like guns on the property. I think having a gun permanently on the property is not right. It’s not something I like,” he said.

LeBlanc did say he felt Flynn was "a good guy" and was happy students could be exposed to having a police officer on the property though. 

He said students being able to share a part of their life with an officer was key, in his opinion. 

"But I don't like guns," he said. 

LeBlanc said he doesn't "like the idea of the SRO" and felt the proximity of the village police department to the school district was enough to warrant not having a firearm on the property. 

"I think with the police station being in the middle of the school district, if there’s an incident, there’s going to be a team, not one guy, who’s going to react to the incident. So, I don’t think the idea of having an SRO is good,” he said.

Despite his objections to firearms on the school property, LeBlanc supported a measure to approve the agreement with the village of Massena to supply an SRO for the district. 

The agreement being signed is a continuation of a contract that was first approved in February 2024, which saw Flynn take on the task of working as an SRO and juvenile officer. 

Mayor Greg Paquin previously said Flynn would continue his duties as a juvenile officer when not working in the school district, in particular when school was not in session during the academic year and during the summer months. 

"Officer Flynn has done great work with the youth in our community and has played a crucial role in the school district as well," Paquin said when village trustees approved the agreement earlier this year. 

The agreement to provide an SRO to the district will run from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, with the school district paying an additional $80,000 for the position. 

“The contract with the village of Massena for our SRO shows an $80,000 increase this year. The village of Massena was arbitrarily charging us around $70,000 to $80,000. That’s not the true cost of the SRO, and the village is basically requiring that if we want to maintain that relationship, that we do need to pay the full cost of the individual,” Superintendent Ron Burke said during the May meeting. 

All additional costs will fall to the village, Burke continued. 

Costs that fall to the village include the cost of Flynn's police vehicle, as well as his equipment, training expenses and other materials needed in the course of his duty, officials said. 

Legacy costs were also part of the initial discussions when implementing the SRO position again, with the village being on the hook if the position is terminated before the 10 year mark. 

"We would absorb those costs and ultimately it would be up to the school to decide if they wish to continue with the agreement. If they opted out at any point before year 10, legacy costs would fall to the village," Paquin previously said.