The Keystone Oaks School District is now home to a full-time, six-member police department, with a chief of police and an armed police officer in each school building. This summer, four new police officers were hired to work alongside Officer Beth Padden, who has worked for the District for 33 years, and School Police Chief Ron Porupsky, who was hired in 2022.
Not only will these officers work to enhance the physical security of our buildings and to ensure the safety of Keystone Oaks students and staff, they will also play an important role in providing education programs like D.A.R.E., in collaborating with local and regional public safety organizations, and in building positive relationships with students, staff and the community to help provide for a positive school culture.
You have likely seen each of the new officers when you’ve been at the school buildings during the first month of school. This week, they were officially sworn in as school police officers and they are now in uniform. Let’s meet our four new school police officers:
Officer Mattie Dolfi will primarily work at Myrtle Avenue Elementary School. Prior to joining the Keystone Oaks School District, she worked as a school police officer at Twin Rivers Elementary in the McKeesport Area School District. She has also worked for Duquesne University and Port Vue Borough.
Officer Mike Farrell will primarily work at Keystone Oaks Middle School. Officer Farrell spent the last five years working as a school police officer in the West Jefferson Hills School District. He spent 27 years as a police officer with the Whitehall Police Department before retiring in 2018. He also spent six years in the Army Reserves.
Officer Shane McGrath will primarily work at Aiken Elementary School. Officer McGrath has worked in law enforcement for 25 years. He spent eight years as a military police officer with the United States Marine Corps and has worked as a police officer in Ingram Borough, Carnegie Borough, and Scott Township, where he spent a decade as a K-9 officer.
Officer Abbey Sell will primarily work at Dormont Elementary School. She previously worked as a police officer for a local police department. She also maintains her EMT certification and has worked for both an EMS agency and the emergency department at a local hospital.