School police program extended

A police officer patrolling a Charlottetown high school will roam the halls a little longer thanks to fundraising efforts at the school.

'This is actually a cost savings for the government.' Coun. David MacDonald

Const. Tim Keizer set up an office at the school as a pilot project that was supposed to end in January. Teachers and administration at the school consider the project a big success, and wanted to see it extended. City council is supportive, butsays it can't afford to fund the project by itself. The province was unwilling to extend the funding.

"The province has essentially suggested that policing is a City of Charlottetown issue,' said Coun. David MacDonald.

"Our position is that this is actually a cost savings for the government. If we can keep three people or four people out of their other systems, we're saving them money. We want a long-term commitment, a long-term funding commitment that will make this sustainable, and ideally what would work well is six years."

The school needed to raise $30,000 to keep Keizer in his office until June. It has not yet reached that goal, butKeizer's contract has been extended until the third week of April, while fundraising continues.

It is still uncertain whether the project will get the funding it needs to start up again in September.