GASTON, S.C. – At Sandhills Middle School, it’s a coveted morning routine for students to assist School Resource Officer Stephen Durco with raising the school’s flags.
Durco, an Air Force veteran, graduated from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in October 2020 and took over the school’s “Flag Program” soon after starting as a deputy with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
Each morning, a group of seventh and eighth grade students voluntarily assist Durco with raising the United States flag, state flag of South Carolina and Sandhills Middle School’s purple and white flag.
“When I came here, there was an Air Force veteran running the program and I helped him,” Durco said. “Then he left and went to another school, so I took the program over at the principal’s request. It’s just an honor as a veteran, as an American to be part of this and raise the flags every day.”
Along with the flag program, Durco also interacts with students in the hall between classes, participates with them in gym class, marches with them in local parades and attends school functions, such as school dances and athletic events.
“I attend a lot of the sporting events, so when they’ve had a great game, we talk about it,” Durco said. “If they’ve had a bad game, we talk about it, and I encourage them to keep pushing forward and do great. It’s good to share their accomplishments.”
As a result of his outstanding work with students, Durco was named County of Lexington’s Employee of the First Quarter for 2022.
“It’s really an honor to represent the department and this school to be recognized like that,” Durco said. “Just being nominated was an honor, but winning it, that was something else…very special.”
“SRO Durco embodies what we want a school resource officer to be,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “He’s making connections with the next generation of leaders. The students he’s interacting with will likely always have a favorable perception of law enforcement because of his actions and hard work.”
Sandhills Middle School Principal Brad Coleman works with Durco each day and witnesses firsthand the impact he has on students.
“He just connects with students. He builds positive relationships with all of our students,” Coleman said. “We have 500 students here. He probably knows 400 or 450 of them by name.”
Coleman said Durco is well-rounded in keeping students, faculty and staff safe, the true definition of a school resource officer.
“I’ve been a principal at four other schools, middle and high school, and been in this business for 27 years now,” Coleman said. “I’ve worked with a lot of good resource officers, a lot of them from Lexington County, but Deputy Durco is right there at the top.”