By John Devereaux
WABC Liaison

School Resource Officer Justin Agraz, who has been at WA since the beginning of 2013, will be leaving as early as this January. His departure has been up in the air since the beginning of the school year. Agraz’s departure is due to his promotion to Sergeant. This process has been in motion for the past 8 months, and the department has already found a new School Resource Officer in Jeff Pavao.

Pavao will be shadowing Agraz until he leaves. According to Pavao, he took the job opening because it was a great opportunity. He also mentioned that it would be better for his family, and it was a better schedule for him. Pavao said that the program the administration and Agraz has going on currently is great for the schools, and that he’ll mirror what Agraz has been doing here at Westford Academy.

When Agraz joined WA, he came in with a few goals in mind; his major goal was to revamp the the safety protocol in the Westford Public Schools.  Although he says that this goal is still in progress, he is still proud of what he was able to accomplish during his time with the job, especially since the high school participated in the A.L.I.C.E drill last year.

Agraz’s departure will not mean that he’ll be completely out of the WA loop. He said that he plans on visiting every once in a while,  whether it’s just roaming the halls or popping into classes. During Agraz’s time as the SRO of Westford Academy he believes he has learned many things from the students, and is very grateful to have had this opportunity.

The promotion that Agraz received entails that his hours will be flopped from what he has now. Instead of going along with the high school crowd working during school hours, he’ll now be in charge of a few deployed cops during the late hours from 11 p.m to 7 a.m.

“I think it’s sad seeing [Mr. Agraz] go, he made the school safer for not only me but others in the school system,” said Senior Tommy McDonough.

Justin Agraz will be leaving Westford Academy knowing that he left a good impression. Not just the impression of him, but a good impression of cops in general. He wants high school students to know that the cops in Westford aren’t just here to pull them over or them in trouble but to help them out. And, although Agraz’s departure time is not certain, he hopes to leave that kind of impression on the high school.

“It means a lot to me when a student says that, it means the world to me when a student compliments me,” said Agraz.

When students and faculty found out about his promotion, they would walk into his office or talk to him in the halls congratulating him and wishing him well. He says that when a student says that they’ll miss him being around the school, he takes that as a compliment, knowing that he not only left an impression in the school, but that students are going to miss his presence around the school scene.