The district’s police officers are (from left to right) Dennis Lynch, Brittaney Burkhart, Kirk Vandenbord, Kevin Carney, Scott Bailey, and
Eric Valentine, with Safety and Security Coordinator Joseph Kozarian.
DISTRICT RAMPS UP SAFETY INITIATIVES
T
o complement robust security measures already
in place, the Fox Chapel Area School District is
implementing a number of new safety initiatives
during the 2018-2019 school year.
New Safety and Security Coordinator & Police Force
Joseph Kozarian assumed the newly created role of Fox
Chapel Area’s safety and security coordinator on October 15.
Mr. Kozarian comes to the district from the Brentwood
Borough School District, where he most recently was the
director of security and facilities. Among Mr. Kozarian’s
responsibilities will be overseeing a school police force with an
armed officer in each of the district’s six buildings. All officers
are retired federal agents; state, municipal or military police; or
sheriffs.
Officer Scott Bailey is stationed at Kerr Elementary School.
Mr. Bailey is a part-time officer for Aspinwall Borough and
has also worked for Robert Morris University. Officer Eric
Valentine is assigned to Fairview Elementary. Mr. Valentine,
a retired Pennsylvania state trooper, formerly worked for the
Gateway School District. Officer Dennis Lynch, a retired
Penn Hills police officer, is at O’Hara Elementary. Mr. Lynch
had been employed by Freeport Borough and the Freeport
Area School District. The newest officer is Fox Chapel Area
graduate Brittaney Burkhart, who is posted at Hartwood
Elementary. Ms. Burkhart is also an Indiana Township officer.
Also on the force are officers Kirk Vandenbord, stationed at
Dorseyville Middle School from the Indiana Township Police
12
FOX CHAPEL AREA
Department, and Kevin Carney of the O’Hara Township
Police Department, who is at the high school.
While keeping students and staff safe is the officers’ main
priority, they’ll also help to foster a healthy school climate.
“They will build positive relationships in order to bridge the
gap between law enforcement and students,” Mr. Kozarian
said. “They also can provide education on law-related subjects
within the classroom.”
Mr. Kozarian is a 15-year veteran of law enforcement. He is
the only Basic and Advanced National Association of School
Resource Officers (NASRO) instructor in Pennsylvania, and
is an ALICE instructor. He’s also a Certified Physical Security
Specialist through the Department of Homeland Security and
was just added to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime
and Delinquency website as one of five people in the state
qualified to perform security assessments on schools. Mr.
Kozarian has a number of goals in mind for his first year on
the job.
“First of all, I’d like to get to know the staff, students,
and community members of the Fox Chapel Area School
District,” he said. “I’ll also focus on getting together with
law enforcement, emergency medical services, and fire
departments to review emergency procedures, as well as
conduct a vulnerability assessment on each building in the
school district to determine any additional safety concerns.”