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New high school principal hired for Prairie du Chien

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By Ted Pennekamp

 

The new Prairie du Chien High School Principal, Doug Morris, was approved by the board of education at its regular meeting Monday evening.

“I thank you for the opportunity,” said Morris in part of his brief introduction to the board. “My family and I are excited to move here. This place is beautiful.”

Morris and his family are moving to Prairie du Chien from Lamesa,Texas where Morris was assistant principal and district behavior coordinator. Morris said safety and security is one of his priorities.

In other business, Prairie du Chien Police Chief Kyle Teynor gave a presentation to the board about a new School Resource Officer (SRO). The district had a school resource officer at one time but does not have one now.

“This is the initial phase, let’s start discussing this,” said Teynor. “We’re missing an opportunity with many students.”

Teynor said there will be a lot of training requirements for the SRO, if approved. The training would be done with the cost to the police department. Teynor said he estimates an SRO would work 2,080 hours per school year at a rate of $22-$26 per hour to be paid by the school district. Teynor said he is also looking for grant funding for the position.

Teynor said an SRO could be of great benefit to the school district. District Administrator Andy Banasik and High School Principal Doug Morris will be discussing the possibility of an SRO further with Teynor, who noted that he would like the school board to make a decision by September or October.

In further business, the board heard a presentation by Joe Ruskey of Dependable Solutions regarding cyber security upgrades and insurance for the school district. 

Cyber attacks have increased 10 fold, said Ruskey, who noted that the Black River Falls School District was hit about three months ago, and the attack shut the school district down for three days and cost the district a lot of money.

Ruskey recommended the Prairie du Chien School District add new software to mitigate the risk of cyber attacks. He also recommended that the board approve of a $1 million cyber security insurance policy from TRICOR. The new software would have an annual cost to the district of approximately $32,000 per year. 

“Six months ago, you wouldn’t need it, but now you do,” said Ruskey who noted that cyber security risk has greatly expanded. He also said the Janesville School District was recently hit by a cyber attack. Ruskey said an attack could cost the Prairie du Chien School District $500,000 or more, and would expose a lot of sensitive information. Students’ or staff’s social security numbers is just one example.

The school board voted by unanimous voice vote to approve of the new cyber security software upgrade and also the new cyber security insurance policy.

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