Evansville Catholic schools double resource officer coverage with new partnership

WNIN | By Tim Jagielo

Published June 4, 2024 at 4:31 PM CDT

VCSO Deputy Todd Schimmell signs his one-year contract with the three Evansville west-side parochial schools at the Monday afternoon news event at Resurrection Catholic School. His salary is $52,000 and will auto-renew annually. Prior to this, Schimmell also covered three EVSC schools. — VCSO Dep. Todd Schimmell signs his one-year contract with the three Evansville west-side parochial schools at the Monday afternoon news event at Resurrection Catholic School. His salary is $52,000 and will auto-renew annually. Prior to this, Schimmell also covered three EVSC schools.

All three west side Catholic Schools will have increased student resource officer coverage thanks to a new partnership with the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office; $105,000 cost shared between schools, VCSO

VCSO Dep. Todd Schimmel stands with Resurrection Catholic School Principal Theresa Berendes Monday afternoon. She feels a student resource officer is "vital" to life at the school.

Deputy Todd Schimmell has been a student resource officer (SRO) for seven years.

He’s been split between six schools — three in the Evansville Diocese and three in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC). But now, he’ll get to focus his attention on the three parochial schools — Resurrection Catholic School, Corpus Christi School, and St. Joseph Catholic School.

He said more time at each school means a better understanding of the students, staff and their families.

“That's what I'm looking forward to the most, is just being involved,” Schimmell said. “I do my best to get everywhere I can, but actually to be seen and considered staff, that's a big deal to me.”

He’ll have a rotation between the schools, provide informal counseling, be present for events and attend to any emerging issues.

Theresa Berendes is Resurrection Catholic School Principal. She said student resource officers are important for school culture.

“It's vital to just the overall feel of our schools — that we have this family environment that we want all of our families to feel safe in our buildings, and him to have the the right amount of time to dedicate to our schools.”

Half of Schimmell’s $105,000 cost with salary, benefits and insurance, will be split between the three schools. The Sheriff’s Office will pay for the rest.

Schimmell started as a DARE instructor and the program grew from there.

Sheriff Noah Robinson said while this is an increase in coverage for these three schools, the job will still be a challenge.

“You have to make the compromises where they make sense,” he said. “And this goes a long way in providing more complete coverage to the three schools that the the Catholic Diocese has out in the county.”

The three EVSC schools were Cynthia Heights Elementary School, West Terrace Elementary School and Perry Heights Middle School.

Robinson said these buildings will be covered by other resource officers.

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