Another officer will take over the department's school resource officer position until the end of the 2008-2009 school year following the recent suspension of Officer Darrell Nelson, said Acting Police Chief Sheri Crain.

"In order to prevent any unnecessary speculation, let me be clear that Officer Nelson's administrative leave has nothing to do with his job performance in the schools and is strictly related to an internal policy violation," Crain wrote in a prepared statement.

The school resource officer position was established at the end of 2004.

Resource officers work with the more than 2,000 students and 300 teachers and staff at Sequim's 70-plus acre main campus.

The officer focuses on mentoring at-risk students, partnering with school staff and being a school-based, positive police presence, rather than just law enforcement.

Under the city's contract, the Sequim School District pays $42,828 toward the resource officer's cost or about half the program's cost.

The cost includes $87,300 in salary, benefits and overtime plus uniform, computer equipment, training, vehicle and other operational costs.