Tupper Lake Central School District School Safety Officer Mike Godin is seen at the Middle-High School on Tuesday morning, his first day in the role after the school board voted unanimously to approve his hiring at its regular meeting Monday evening. (Provided photo — Chris Savage)

TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake Central School District Board of Education voted unanimously at its regular meeting Monday evening to appoint retired Sunmount safety chief Mike Godin as the district’s school safety officer, per Superintendent Jaycee Welsh’s recommendation.

Welsh said Godin was the search committee’s ultimate pick, though it was a tough decision. She thanked everyone who participated in the search process and noted it was driven by strong community participation.

“We had a great turnout for our school safety officer interviews,” she said. “We had a nice turnout for the public forum and based on committee recommendation and public forum recommendation, it was a very, very challenging decision to (determine) who Tupper Lake was going to choose as its next school safety officer.”

Godin retired after 36 years of working at the Sunmount State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities facility in 2021. He spent many years as a chief safety officer and said in the Aug. 20 public forum that he could bring a “safety mindset,” which he learned there.

Godin said it is a good time to capitalize on and reevaluate school safety. He added that he views the job primarily about safety, finding issues and fixing them. Knowledge is important to him. One of his goals would be to listen — listen a lot.

The more he knows the better, he said at the forum. He wants to spend a lot of time on his feet just being around the buildings. He is a believer in having an “open door policy.” He wants kids to be comfortable around people in authority.

The freshly minted SSO began his duties at 7:15 a.m. Tuesday at the middle-high school. His first assignment was traffic control, which presented some issues on the first week of school as some vehicles made improper U-turns around an ongoing construction site near the school’s entrance, snarling the flow at times. Tupper Lake village police officers will continue providing security assistance this week as Godin completes his onboarding.

There was no further discussion needed ahead of the school board’s vote. Afterwards, Board Member Mary Ellen Chamberlain asked if Godin would be provided a uniform for easy identification on the job. Welsh responded by saying that the district purchased five bright red identical polo shirts to be worn throughout the week with embroidery indicating “School Safety Officer.”

“Not necessarily a formalized uniform,” Welsh said. “But something that the students will see him in day in, day out, and will easily be able to detect him in a crowd — and staff as well.”

Board President Jane Whitmore asked if uniform provisions would be made for inclement and cold weather, to which Welsh said the district would look into a jacket that is similarly easy to identify.

Staff Writer Aaron Marbone contributed to this report.