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SRO
Tom Culbert bids Mohon farewell
Dec. 11, 2008
It used to be that if a police officer walked down a school hallway, everyone would stop and stare and wonder what was going on.
These days, when Rotterdam Police Officer Tom Culbert walks down the halls at Mohonasen High School, students and staff most often give a warm smile and a “hi,” or don’t even look up at all. That’s because for the last six years Culbert, who is the district's school resource officer, has become a mainstay of the Mohonasen community.
“I’ve gotten a great deal of self satisfaction from doing this job,” Culbert said. “I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work with so many great people—both faculty and students.”
Culbert has spent his days at Mohonasen counseling students, answering questions and teaching in classrooms. A lot of the job, he said, is “putting out small fires” all day long.
“I’m a resource—a resource for the school, staff, students and parents,” he said. “And I’m a liaison between the school and the police department.”
But one of the things he says he’s most proud of has been the safety and security procedures he helped put into place. Culbert came to Mohonasen not long after the deadly shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado. At that time, safety and security procedures in schools were not common.
Today, visitors to Mohonasen’s schools have to sign in with a monitor when they come to the school, there are cameras that monitor hallways and parking lots and there are security procedures in place in case of an emergency.
Culbert, who says it’s time for a change in his career, will be replaced by Mike Rumbaugh, who also comes from the Rotterdam Police force.
“The bar is set high and these are big shoes to fill,” Rumbaugh said. “But the staff and students have been very accepting and I’m hoping it will be a seamless transition.”
Rumbaugh will continue Culbert’s work across the district, including his work with Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), and maintaining a page on the district Web site.
