By: Reece Shandorf
March 12, 2025
Recently, Chief Deputy and School Resource Officer (SRO) Dan McDonough started providing service to the students at Shelby Public Schools. School Resource Officers are assigned to school districts to maintain safety, investigate incidents, educate students on legal manners, and most importantly to build positive relationships with students and staff. Deputy McDonough brings experience in both education and law enforcement. He also is connected to the community as he grew up in Shelby. All around the United States SROs contribute to school safety and help build knowledge and comfortability with the role of law enforcement and McDonough wants to build rapport with students.
At the high school, the principal and guidance counselor appreciate having an SRO officer to assist them. Both Mr. Fisher and Mrs. Watterud agree that one of the main roles of an SRO officer is to build relationships with students and help them see law enforcement as a support rather than only someone who will get them in trouble. Mr. Fisher also said that the SRO officer is really important in keeping students and staff safe.
Officer McDonough says that he enjoys his job as the SRO because he loves kids. Before he went into law enforcement he got a degree in teaching. He said he taught physical education outside of Bozeman. When he had a hard time finding a teaching job, he started working in law enforcement. He attended the Montana Law Enforcement Academy (MLEA) and then he was specifically trained to be an SRO and had his initial job in Three Forks. He said he had a bunch of different jobs in law enforcement where he handled big crimes and incidents.
With his combined training in education and law enforcement, Officer McDonough said the SRO job is the best one he has had because of his impact on kids. As he starts at Shelby Public Schools he hopes that he will be someone students can trust and come to with questions. He hopes to get into coaching.
One of the officers who works with Officer McDonough is Sergeant Shandorf. Sergeant Shandorf said “Dan is really easy to talk to and work with. He wants to help any way he can.” Sergeant Shandorf also said that he is a strong leader and loves serving the community he grew up in.
One of the parts of this job that surprised Officer McDonough was that many of the crimes that juveniles are involved with include technology. He has had to learn how to teach kids to be safe and careful about their online activities.
Officer McDonough is married to LeAnn McDonough and has two children: one in third grade and the other in preschool. He also has a Labrador dog. His wife, LeAnn, teaches at Shelby Elementary. On his time off of work, he enjoys hunting, camping, and exploring outside. He also enjoys coaching and playing sports. He said he encourages students and families to introduce themselves and get to know him, as he wants to be able to give advice and answer questions.
