Northern Lehigh School District hopes a newly created school police officer position will help curtail behavioral issues.

The school board on Monday agreed to appoint Frank Gnas, 190 days plus additional days for training as needed, at a salary of $40,000, effective immediately.Later on in the meeting, the board approved his contract, which runs through Aug. 31, 2017.Upon his appointment, Gnas said, "Thank you for this opportunity."Gnas has been a police officer with the Slatington Police Department for the past six years.After the meeting, he said he will continue to serve in that role, while also taking on the position of school police officer.A graduate of the district, Gnas said he's humbled to work for the school district."It's a great honor to be coming back and working for the school district," Gnas said. "The district and staff members and team are very supportive, as well as the school board."Gnas said he's eager to get started."It's going to be a great program for the school district," he said. "The future of Northern Lehigh will prosper."After the meeting, Superintendent Michael Michaels said the position "encompasses a multitude of duties.""We didn't have a lot of things that Frank brings to the table," Michaels said. "His duties are that of an actual police officer."Among the duties Michaels said Gnas will assume include serving as the district's truancy officer; writing tickets and filing citations on campus; dealing with matters such as thefts, vandalism, alcohol or narcotics on school property; bus stop issues; and custody issues.Michaels said the position was created to ensure "proactive law enforcement.""To take the responsibility of being a police officer off the school administration, and putting it with someone who's trained in being a police officer, and to be proactive and to make us a much safer school district," he said. "In this day and age, you can never be too safe."In September, Michaels asked the board to consider applying for the Safe School Initiative Grant to derail an increase in behavioral problems.Molitoris said the district was approved for the grant, and awarded $40,000 for this year.