NEW CUMBERLAND — Security will be increased next school year in all Hancock County school buildings.

The Hancock County Board of Education, last week, addressed security issues by approving a Prevention Resource Officer program for all eight schools in the county.

According to the agreement, each of the eight county school buildings will have one PRO who will monitor the property and provide extra security — a move made by many schools across the country, coming on the heels of recent events of threats and mass shootings throughout the nation.

Officers for the three Weirton schools — Weirton Elementary, Weir Middle and Weir High — will come from the Weirton Police Department, while the other five buildings — Allison Elementary, New Manchester Elementary, Oak Glen Middle, Oak Glen High and the John D. Rockefeller IV Career Center — will come from the Hancock County Sheriff’s office.

The agreement takes effect with the 2018-19 school year.

In other business:

¯ The board announced make-up days for the 2017-18 school year because of the statewide teacher strike that lasted nine days.

Students will continue classes until June 8, while teachers will continue to report until June 13.

The make-up days are being used at the order of West Virginia Schools Superintendent Steve Paine who said days off for the strike will need made up, and it was left to each of the state’s 55 county school systems to determine how that would be accomplished.

By law, classes in the state cannot go beyond July 1.

(Rappach can be contacted at srappach@reviewonline.com)