Additional funding for the Mountain Home School Resource Officer Program was brought before the Mountain Home City Council Thursday evening to discuss plans for the position’s future.
With the retirement of the kindergarten School Resource Officer (SRO) later this year, discussions have been brought up as to what will come of the vacated position, mainly considering the budget for the salary.
“We want to bring you up to speed with some discussions we’ve had with the school superintendent involved in the public safety meetings,” Mayor Hillrey Adams said. “We currently have seven SROs in school and when this one retires, the plan is to go ahead and fill that position and identify who it will be to go in that spot so this summer they can attend all the training and things that happen in the summer.”
He said he felt confident that the city budget has enough funds for the salary bracket, and that the council remains in discussion with the superintendent through the process.
“The school has approached us and discussed with us some of the situations they are addressing and whether or not they are going to be able to fully fund the seventh SRO position 50-50 like they have been doing in the past,” Adams stated. “What we want to do tonight is make the council aware that there is a good chance when we come back with the budget for 2025 we may be asking for some funding that is slightly above the 50-50 mark.”
Adams was referring to the agreement where the schools pay half of the SRO’s salary, benefits included, and the city pays the other half.
“We feel it is very important that we keep seven SROs in our schools; one in each school so they can continue to serve our kids in this community,” Adams said.
Mountain Home Police Chief Eddie Griffin approached the council to provide some additional information about what to expect for the rest of the year as far as the SROs are concerned.
“We didn’t know that the SRO was going to retire this year, so we had in the budget his salary for the entire year, and we are speaking with the superintendent about our next moves,” Griffin said.
Griffin explained that the passage and implementation of the LEARNS Act, which increased the starting teacher salary to $50,000, along with raises and the opportunity to earn up to $10,000 in bonuses for good performance, has created great financial constraints on the school budget and could potentially impact the decision to hire another SRO.
“The superintendent indicated that we might have to drop back to six SROs,” Griffin said. “I would certainly hate to lose one; we have an awesome program, probably one of the best in the state.”
Griffin cited that Councilmember Wayne Almond calculated that the average cost per SRO in the school system comes out to be around $80,000, with $40,000 to come from the school and $40,000 to come from the city.
“The superintendent feels like they will be able to go back to the 50-50 arrangement with a grant in the process to assist in funding their safety officer, so hopefully that will go through, and we will be right back where we were,” Griffin stated, “Though she (Superintendent Allison Dewey) wasn’t able to say for complete certainty. Like us, she would hate to lose an officer in the schools.”
The council reiterated what the SROs bring to the schools and why it is important to make sure that the facilities have an officer
“They do a lot for the department aside from the school,” Griffin stated. “We have range master and SWAT Team members who come out of the SRO program, so it is definitely a good partnership. The SRO builds rapport with the kids, but as far as the police action that takes place during school, someone would have to addressing those needs, whether it is a patrol officer for parking-lot accidents at the high school or cases that rose to the criminal level.”
Councilmember Bob Van Haaren addressed the council with his concerns. “My concern is that we need to ensure whoever takes this position that we will at least finish them out this school year. When we talked to the committee about it, it was said that whoever takes that position is looking at a pay cut of about two or three dollars.
“The second thing to keep in mind,” he continued, “Is that when they move into that position, that will open another position wherever that person came from and yet another position somewhere else. So, if we hire an officer and come January we have not committed to at least finishing out the school year portion, we’ve likely got an officer who has moved, taken a pay cut and may not have a job. That’s where I would like to see as a council if we are going to at least allow the funding to carry through the school.”
Van Haaren stated he was aware of the fact that the salary was budgeted for this year but reminded the council that they still have January through June of next year.
“I think we should at least have the courtesy to explain that this position may not be here at the end of the next school year,” Van Haaren said. “That is where I want to see if we can look at ensuring funding at least a year (school year, not full year) because come January or December or whenever they get the budget locked in, we would know whether or not they will be able to pay their half. I would just hate for the SRO or any officer to risk potentially their career, let alone take a pay cut on a move like that.”
Adams addressed the council, “That is one thing we’ve never done,” he said. “We’ve cut out a truck and cut back on equipment through the years to trim the fat where it was needed but we have never touched an employee, and we want to make sure we continue that going forward.”
Griffin explained that the kindergarten SRO is slightly different than the other school SROs, but just as important, nonetheless.
“One of the things with the officer in the kindergarten schools is that they are not as demanding as other schools, like the high school and the alternative school,” Griffin said. “If someone was off duty for training or sickness or other situation, we would have someone go from the kindergarten patrol to fill in for some of the more critical roles.”
Griffin said that the person who is looking into taking the position is a patrol sergeant and desires to be an SRO, so he understands what is included with the job.
“He will drop back a couple of pay grades to get this position,” Griffin said, “And on top of that, we will be hiring a new officer to fill his vacancy and keep the numbers where they are. As the mayor said, in my time, I don’t believe any city employee has been laid off, and I would not want this one to be a layoff either.”
Griffin said next that after discussions with Dewey, it is clear that she wants all seven SROs in her schools and wishes for them to be funded with the 50-50 agreement. “She definitely wants all seven officers, and she has been reached out to by other school board members who want all seven also, so she is well aware of the attitude about the need of an officer."
“I spoke with the superintendent one day, and she seems sincere that they are going to do all they can next year to work it out and ensure that they are able to continue this,” Almond said.
The council did not take action, as the discussion was to inform the council of talks between the city and the school district concerning the SRO position. The issue will be revisited again when the school has its budget firmly established with the consideration of the SRO salary factored in.
