LYNN – Amidst sweeping budget cuts across the city, the Lynn Police Department will pull all of its school resource officers (SROs) from city schools next week in an effort to bump up patrol staffing levels and avoid overtime payouts.The decision, made last week by Chief John Suslak, will go into effect Monday, Feb. 9 and will not affect School Safety and Security officer Robert Ferrari, who is paid through federal grant money.The move will affect the city’s middle and high schools, where SROs are stationed to provide safety and a positive presence for students.”The SRO program has been of tremendous success for us and we have always had a great partnership with (former superintendent) Nick Kostan and now (Superintendent Catherine Latham),” Suslak said. “This is not something that we are happy about either.”Suslak said parents should not worry about the safety of students, pointing out that he worked 25 years in the department without any presence in the schools.With nearly $459,000 to be taken from the police department budget, Suslak has pulled officers from a variety of jobs, including training and special operations, along with SROs to bulk up staffing on street patrols and avoid fourth quarter layoffs in fiscal year 2009.He said if the budget permits, patrol in the areas of schools could increase.At middle schools like Marshall and Breed, SROs have been successful in helping keep the student body disciplined and also work with students in a variety of programs and workshops in subjects like Internet safety and bullying.While the police presence will be missed in the schools, principals say that parents should not worry about the safety of their students, as SROs are relatively new entities in Lynn schools.”The SRO has certainly been a very valuable resource to the school and to parents,” said Breed Middle School Principal Fred DuPuis. “Now myself as an administrator and the staff have to take a look at what we can do to pick up the slack.”The news of the cut comes just after a 14-year-old student at Breed assaulted an officer outside the school Tuesday as students were being picked up for the day. DuPuis said that while the incident was unfortunate, it is not typical and most students at the school are well-behaved.”It is too bad because most of the kids here are good kids who stay out of trouble,” he said. “But you always get one or two. We have heard concerns from some parents, and we are going to have to continue to be vigilant like we have in the past.”DuPuis said he is hoping that SROs still make an occasional appearance at the school to let students know that the police are still there to help them.It is not clear if SROs will be reinstated next year when school begins again.Latham was unavailable for comment Friday.