Joe Kozarian has been hired as the new safety and security coordinator at Fox Chapel Area School District.
A 15-year veteran of law enforcement, Kozarian most recently served as the director of security and facilities at the Brentwood Borough School District.
His duties at FCA will include overseeing the creation of a school police force, through which an officer will be assigned to each of the six district schools.
Officers will be retired federal agents or state, municipal or military police, or sheriffs, said Bonnie Berzonski, district coordinator of communications.
The district will host a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25 to discuss more about the safety plans at each campus.
Administrators and local police are scheduled to discuss approaches to enhance prevention as well as response protocols throughout district campuses, Berzonski said.
“School safety is always a timely topic,” Superintendent Gene Freeman said. “We want to share, as much as possible, with our parents and community on our school safety measures.”
There currently are school resource officers at the high school and Dorseyville Middle School, both of whom also cover the elementary buildings.
The district during the 2017-18 school year established confidential phone and email lines for people to report safety tips.
To access them, call 412-696-1420 or find an email form at fcasd.edu.
Tawnya Panizzi is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tawnya at 412-782-2121, ext. 2, tpanizzi@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tawnyatrib.
