Schools
Funding for School Resource Officer on Budget Table
Township asks district to pay for one of two cops.
The longtime practice of assigning two township police officers to local public schools could soon be in jeopardy.
Superintendent William Gretzula told the school board Wednesday that the township has asked the district to pick up half the cost of the D.A.R.E. program along with half the cost of two school resource officers, one of which works at the High School and the other at the middle schools.
He said the preliminary 2011-2012 budget includes $22,000 needed to cover half the cost of D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). But it does not include the $190,000 cost of one of the two SROs.
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Gretzula said he promised the township the matter would be the subject of public discussion as the budget is deliberated over the next several months.
On Friday, he indicated the expenditure might be one he won't be able to support.
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“It's a matter of value versus a difficult budget time. It's not that the officers are not valuable, they are. But if it requires me to release three teachers and increase class size, is it worth that risk?”
Fred Harran, the township's public safety director, said Friday he understands it is a tough budget time for both the district and the municipality. But he added he doesn't think Gretzula's comparison to the cost of three teachers is fair.
“That's a little overstating,” he said.
Both programs were begun with funding from state grants. The first SRO was assigned in 1999, Harran said, with a two-year grant. In 2000, he said, another state grant made it possible to add a second SRO for the middle schools.
“That lasted four years and since then there has been no cost to the district,” he said.
He said his research shows that many school districts use their own funding.
“We think it is only fair for the school district to chip in and pay for part of it,” he added.
Harran said school resource officers serve as a deterrent to behavior problems in the schools.
“They are first-line resources for kids, the school district and parents,” he said.
If the district were to decide against funding a second officer, Harran said that person would not lose their job.
“They would be redeployed, probably on patrol,” he said.
He added that the $190,000 annual SRO cost, in addition to salary, includes benefits, training and uniforms.
