Robert Acquaviva donned the requisite face mask, held up a “first day of school 2020” sign and took a selfie in front of a Burrell Bucs logo. Then the Lower Burrell patrolman began his tenure as the district’s new school resource officer.

“To everyone in the schools, I’m Officer Rob and I’m working on getting familiar with everybody,” Lower Burrell’s Acquaviva, 36, said Thursday. “A big thing with kids is when they see a uniformed police officer that they not associate the officer with negative or emergency situations.”

For more than five years, the full-time resource officer position in Burrell was filled by John Marhefka, a Lower Burrell police veteran who is now the department’s chief. He also taught the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program in Burrell for 20 years. Acquaviva is his successor.

In June 2019, the school district renewed a 3-year contract with Lower Burrell police to continue to provide Marhefka as the full-time resource officer. Instead of contracting out the position for potentially less money, the school district wanted to stick with city police and Marhefka because of his long-term relationships with students.

When John Andrejcik took office in January as the city’s new mayor, he appointed Marhefka as acting chief, then chief.

As a result, Burrell School District Superintendent Shannon Wagner grew concerned about the quality of police coverage in the district after Marhefka’s departure.

The city’s police department filled in for Marhefka to finish out the 2019-20 school year.

Andrejcik, Wagner and others interviewed officers and decided on Acquaviva, Andrejcik said.

“We picked as a team, had meetings with the superintendent and her people. He interviewed with everybody and he’s the best man for the job,” he said.

Acquaviva started his first day with students on the opening day of school Tuesday.

“We are excited to have Officer Acquaviva,” Wagner said.

About 70% of students have returned to Burrell schools for full-time, in-person instruction, while 30% are learning remotely.

Acquaviva said the pandemic should not present any problems for him. His job will not be to enforce mask wearing or anything connected to the pandemic.

“The goal of any successful SRO is to forge positive relationships between myself and students, and to make a positive impact and reduce crime and negative behavior,” he said.

He will walk all of the school district buildings and get familiar with students.

“I will be the same face they see from elementary school to the high school,” Acquaviva said. “That is something Chief Marhefka did for many years.”

Acquaviva has been on the force for more than 5 years. Previously, he worked as a police officer in Oakmont. He earned degrees in political science and religious studies from the University of Pittsburgh. He graduated from the Allegheny County Police Training Academy in 2012.

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