North Penn SD committee to draft policy and seek court authorization for school police officers

Chair Mrs. Rubnik opened the meeting and turned the floor to Mr. Ran, who outlined the district's path for creating formal school police officer roles.

Administrators said the immediate next step is for the policy committee to draft a board policy that "will really govern what the function of the school police officer is," and that, if the board approves that policy, the district would petition the court to swear in officers and grant them the authorities described in the policy. Mr. Ran emphasized the rollout "will be very methodical and follow a very thorough process," and that the initial candidate pool will be internal employees rather than open recruitment.

Mr. Summers said the policy committee meets in August and, if it forwards a recommended policy, a first reading could happen in September; subsequent adoption would occur at a board action meeting. Administrators added some implementation tasks—equipment procurement, candidate identification and some SOP drafting—can proceed in parallel, but they recommended finalizing policy language before asking a judge to authorize powers that exceed the district's current designation.

Officials described three operational levels for school officer designation: access-only (no arrest powers, access to radio/communications), authority to issue summary offenses, and full police authority including arrest powers. The district's current officers are at the access-only level; higher authorities would require a court order.

Administrators said they have shared a draft framework policy with counsel and will use Pennsylvania School Boards Association templates and other districts' policies as references while customizing language for North Penn. They also described a separate set of standard operating procedures that would cover operational and safety-sensitive details; some SOP items could be shared with the committee but not every procedural item would be made public to avoid compromising safety.

Committee members pressed for plans to socialize the change with students and families and to codify onboarding and engagement protocols that may not live in the policy text. Administrators said they will schedule informational sessions (on- and off-campus) and share updates at future Safe Schools meetings. They also said organizational responsibilities will be reorganized into a tiered structure within a new Department of Public Safety, without adding new headcount.

The committee did not take a vote on a final policy or on petitioning the court; administrators said timelines depend on policy approvals and getting on court dockets. The policy committee's August meeting and a likely September first reading were identified as the near-term milestones.

Next steps: policy development by the policy committee in August, potential first reading in September, continued SOP work and community engagement; timing for any court petition was described as dependent on those approvals and court scheduling.