The school district and city are hammering out a deal to
reinstate a position administrators called
”
critical
”
to keeping the peace at district schools.
Gilroy
The school district and city are hammering out a deal to reinstate a position administrators called “critical” to keeping the peace at district schools.
For more than 10 years, the city funded one school resource officer to patrol Gilroy High School’s campus, attend to issues at other district schools and enforce student discipline. But with city hiring freezes and multi-million dollar cuts, the city can no longer afford to be so generous, said Police Chief Denise Turner.
“Now that times are tough, we don’t have that luxury anymore,” Turner said.
With two fewer officers than usual and two more set to retire in the coming months, Turner used School Resource Officer Cherie Somavia and another officer who led the anti-drug education program to plug the holes in patrol. And even though the department recently received $1.2 million in federal stimulus funds to hire three officers, those new recruits will backfill patrol duties as well, said Sgt. Jim Gillio.
“In order to cover our vacancies on patrol, we had to collapse several programs,” Gillio said. “We have to support our core function.”
Despite the overriding need to focus on patrol, Gillio nodded toward the importance of having an officer on campuses.
“The SRO is a critical position because (Somavia) is in charge of every school in the district,” Gillio said. “She knows every kid in every school. It’s pretty amazing. If there’s a problem with a student, she knows who they hang out with, where to find them, where they live.”
In addition to patrolling and investigating any criminal cases that occur on Gilroy campuses, Somavia rounds up truants and works with the city to develop safe routes to school, Gillio said.
The police department initially applied for $2.8 million to hire seven officers, which would have funded two school resource officers, one for Gilroy High School and another for Christopher High School, which is set to open its doors to almost 700 freshman and sophomores in two weeks. Because the terms of the grant require recipients to retain grant-funded officers for a year after the federal funds’ three-year lifespan runs out, the school district originally offered to pay the costs of a school resource officers in the fourth year, Turner said. But since the department only received enough money to restore three officers instead of the seven it hoped for, “I won’t be able to put any more officers in schools,” Turner said.
When Superintendent Deborah Flores got wind of the news, she approached police to devise a solution, Turner said. The cost to bring back the position is about $160,000 and the city and district are examining their budgets to see if they can split the cost, according to City Administrator Tom Haglund.
Currently, the ball’s in the district’s court, Haglund said. The school board will discuss the possibility at Thursday’s board meeting.
“Because of budget constraints, there’s no way the city can fund the position permanently in its entirety,” Haglund said. “The school district mentioned it would be interested in coming up with half the cost. I think we’re waiting to see what the school district’s ultimate direction is.”
Both Haglund and Turner said that many other school districts in the country fully or partially fund the position.
With a budget crisis of their own, coming up with funding will be a “challenge,” Flores said.
She’s waiting to get direction from board members but said that finding the money is a “top priority – so much that I’m willing to make other cuts to make this work.”
“We’re going to find a way to fund 50 percent of this position,” she said. “If we do, I believe it would be the impetus for (the city) to find funding.”
With her third child still at Gilroy High School, trustee Denise Apuzzo said that, as a mother, the presence of an officer on campus goes a long way for peace of mind.
“Kids see that and it changes their behavior,” she said. Although she’s waiting to hear more details at the board meeting, Apuzzo said fronting the district’s $80,000 share of the cost to fund the position would be “well worth it.”
“I absolutely support having a school resource officer,” she said. “The need doesn’t go away just because the money’s not available. We need to find the money.”
With not one, but two large high schools and several other high school alternatives next year, CHS Principal John Perales agreed.
“If we don’t have someone regular, it creates a bigger issue,” Perales said. “Not working with someone closely is a nightmare. Having that person on campus, becoming familiar with the students and school rules, works miracles.”
Not only does the school officer have a closer ear to the ground than many teachers, the officer also leads gang training and awareness seminars for high school staff, Perales said.
“Students can’t learn, schools can’t move forward if they’re not safe,” he said. “Safety is key.”
Should the district and city can come up with the funds, the department will hire another officer and move Somavia back to the schools, Gillio said.
If the district finds the funds to keep the position, Turner said the police department should be able to do the same using money from another federal grant that was supposed to be used to purchase video surveillance equipment. The money, however, is one-time only so the department would have to start planning how to fund the position in subsequent years.
“If the school district can come up with their share of funding, we will forgo obtaining the cameras,” Turner said. “We’ll do everything we can to restore the position.”
