Newtown’s New School Resource Officer

By Andrew Gorosko

Policewoman Gladys Pisani expects she will learn a lot as the new school resource officer at Newtown High School and Newtown Middle School.

Ms Pisani, who until her recent marriage was known around town as Gladys Keating, started work as the school resource officer earlier this month. Ms Pisani replaces former resource officer Christopher Vanghele who was promoted to the rank of sergeant in August.

 In an interview this week, Ms Pisani said she expects that serving as a role model for students in grades 6 through 12 in the public schools will prove challenging and rewarding. “I expect I will learn a lot,” she said with a smile.

“I really like Newtown. It fits my personality,” she said.

The Police Commission hired Ms Pisani in February, 1997. Since then she has served as a patrol officer, driving a marked police car on a rotating shift, responding to incidents and resident complaints.

The pace of the patrol shift varies. Sometimes it is busy. Sometimes it is slow, the policewoman said. Although she expects she will miss patrolling town, she said she expects to encounter new, interesting  challenges in the public schools.

“The schools are going to be my beat now,” she said.

 In her new capacity as school resource officer, Ms Pisani will work the day shift on weekdays and spend much time at the high school and the middle school.

At the high school, the resource officer has office space at the school’s security department.

Since becoming the resource officer, Ms Pisani has spent time in the schools in uniform, making her presence known.

 The resource officer’s role is three-pronged, involving law enforcement, law-related counseling and law-related education, she said.

 Ms Pisani plans to spend her mornings working at the high school.

Starting in December she will begin teaching a “Life Skills” program to Grade 7 students at the middle school. Ms Pisani, 42, who has a college degree in education and a background in physical education, said she is looking forward to teaching that course.

Life Skills is an extension of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program which police youth officer Dana Schubert teaches to all Grade 5 students.

Life Skills is intended to have students develop a positive self-image. It provides instruction in decision making, assertiveness, and social skills. The program is keyed to preventing youths from developing problems with alcohol, tobacco and drugs.

As the school resource officer, Ms Pisani at times will be in uniform, and at other times will be in plain clothes.

“I’ll see what works best for me,” she said, noting that she expects she will be teaching classes in uniform so that students are aware that she is a police officer.

In the coming months, as she makes the transition from patrolling the town in a police car to working in an educational setting, Ms Pisani said she will make adjustments as needed to function in the school environment. She will be receiving specialized police training geared to police work in a school setting.

Also, she expects to be meeting the many people with whom she will interact – students, school staff and administrators.

“It will be a period of adjustment. Every day, I’ll go in there and do the best I can,” she said.

When not on the job, Ms Pisani enjoys athletics, especially running and swimming. A former resident of Hawaii, she has competed in many triathlons, an endurance event which combines running, bicycling and swimming.

Police Captain Michael Kehoe has said Ms Pisani brings the education, maturity and experience needed to perform well in the post of school resource officer. “It’s a nice fit for the job. She’s going to do a good job,” he has said.

Newtown was one of the first towns in the region to have a school resource officer. The post was instituted about five years ago by former police chief Michael DeJoseph.