CANFIELD — The role of student resource officers in schools needs to be re-evaluated, says a local attorney representing former Canfield Superintendent Alex Geordan.

Geordan, through attorney David Engler, has filed a lawsuit accusing Canfield police Chief Chuck Colucci of defamation. Geordan is seeking $250,000 in compensatory damages, and $500,000 in punitive damages.

“I think (student resource officers) have to be reimagined,” Engler said, maintaining that law enforcement seeks to increase its footprint.

Engler said that instead of having law enforcement, more schools should consider counselors and social workers.

Last December, Geordan resigned as superintendent with 3 1/2 years left on his contract after it was reported that he did not report violent threats made by a Canfield Village Middle School student in September.

In November, the police department released 22 incidents dating back to 2012, claiming Geordan had a history of failing to report to law enforcement serious threats as well as other significant incidents.

“It makes it look like Canfield is this disaster zone of criminality. It never was,” Engler said.

The city’s attorney, Mark Fortunato, declined to comment because the litigation is pending.

“The Canfield Police Department has always been honest and transparent to our community. We look forward to defending these accusations,” Colucci said in response.

Engler said the role of a superintendent is not to handle disciplinary issues, and that discipline should be handled through a chain of command, beginning at the teacher / principal level.

“The superintendent purposely is left out of the loop because he is the last decision-maker to determine if a student needs expelled or suspended from school,” he said, adding that was the case with Geordan during his time as superintendent.

The trend of using school police to keep students safe began largely after the Columbine school shooting in 1999, Engler said. Now, however, he said law enforcement looks to “criminalize” verbal disagreements or fights between students.

According to an agreement between the city and school district, school resource officers are supervised by the police department and are not employees of the district. They are to investigate delinquent or criminal acts in the school system as well as its community when the schools or students are involved.

afox@tribtoday.com