By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

CHELSEA – Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputy Diana du Cros will be the student resource officer for all Chelsea schools this school year.

After spending the last three years as the student resource officer at Oak Mountain Middle School, du Cros said she’s looking forward to the “challenge” of working at a high school.

“This is a new situation for me, being placed in a high school,” du Cros said. “We don’t deal with school discipline, but things dealing with breaking the law. (SROs deal with) kids smoking, theft of property, wrecks, harassment or bullying — that type of thing we handle. Fights, if it comes to that situation where law enforcement would normally get involved in, we get involved.”

An Australian native who moved to the United States more than 20 years ago, du Cros has been with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office for 10 years. She said she likes working with school kids.

“I really like dealing with the kids. I don’t have any children of my own, so I was wondering how I’d handle it. It’s really good,” she said. “You’re not just dealing with the kids, you’re dealing with the parents, school administration and staff as well.”

Du Cros said she used to attend Oak Mountain High School football games to provide reinforcement for another SRO.

“I guess now I’ll have my own,” she said. “It’ll be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it.”