August 15, 2022

Good afternoon Canton Local Families,

Our first priority is the safety and security of our students and our staff. As we worked through this summer, we concluded that providing additional security guards at each building was the best way to keep everyone safe. These security guards are all commissioned police officers and will be armed to protect students and staff.

Our team of security guards will work with our School Resource Officers Kris Ousley and Matt Hewitt in conjunction with our building principals and district administration as part of the district security team. 

Please feel to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for all of your support. Have a great school year, and Go Wildcats!

Brett Yeagley
Superintendent
Faircrest Memorial Elementary School
John Clos has served as a security guard at Canton South for the past four years. He has moved from the high school to serve as the security guard for Faircrest Memorial Elementary School. John is a commissioned police officer through the Village of Dalton. He has served as a police officer for Dalton and the City of Orrville and worked in security at Ohio State University and Stark State College.
Canton South Middle School
At Canton South Middle School, we have hired Joseph Pileggi Jr. Joe has spent 31 years as a Canton City police officer. He has been a part of road patrol, an undercover vice detective, accident investigator, the K-9 unit, community policing, and ten years in the detective bureau. Joe also spent 12 years as a security guard at Stark State College.
Canton South High School
At Canton South High School, we have hired John Von Spiegel. John has worked at the Stark County Sheriff's office for 31 years. Previously, he spent five years as an SRO at Canton South High School and two years as an SRO at Jackson High School. John was the Child Abuse Investigator for Stark County for 20 years, where he worked with U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Forces and the FBI. He was named the Stark County Deputy of the Year in 2012.
District Substitute
Greg Whitney completes our team as a substitute security officer for the district. To start the year, Greg will spend two days a week at Faircrest Elementary and Canton South Middle School and one day at Canton South High School. Working in each building will allow him to learn how they operate, so he is prepared to fill in when needed. Greg has 37 years of law enforcement experience, with 27 years in the Cleveland City police department. He was a patrol officer on the streets of Cleveland for seven years and worked in the Cleveland Narcotics Detectives unit for 20 years. He was also a member of the Cleveland Police Crisis Negotiators unit. In addition, for the past last ten years, Greg worked as an investigator for the State Board of Pharmacy.