District to foot bill for cops in schools
$200,000 to be set aside from expected budget surplus
TROY, N.Y.>> The Troy City School District has agreed to step up to help the cash- strapped city by temporarily footing the bill for two school resource officers provided by the
Troy Police Department.
At the April
12 school board meeting at which members also approved a proposed 2017-18 budget, district Superintendent John Carmello said the district set aside $200,000 in unspent money from the current budget to cover the cost of city police officers stationed at Troy Middle School and Troy High School for the 2017-18 school year. That funding was cut from the 2017 city budget during negotiations that cut nearly in half a proposed 28.4 percent property tax increase.
“I’m a strong advocate for the [school resource officers],” Mayor Patrick Madden said after Carmello’s announcement, “just like I’m an advocate for many other things we can’t afford.”
The three officers provided to the Troy and Lansingburgh school districts were initially paid for through a 2013 grant from the federal Department of
Justice, officials explained, but that funding only covered the first three years, with the city required to pay for a fourth year or be forced to repay the entire $375,000 grant.
During budget negotiations last year, city officials expressed hope the two districts could at least help foot the bill, and Madden began discussions with officials from both districts. While Troy district officials agreed to what Carmello said was a one-time contribution — with further negotiations required if the officers were to continue in the schools beyond the life of the grant —
Lansingburgh district Superintendent Cynthia DeDominick said Monday she has had a couple meetings with Madden, but explained her district is not in the position to made a similar offer.
“Lansingburgh is not in a position where we can build the cost of a police officer into our school budget,” DeDominick said by email Monday. “While we certainly value the work that our SRO has been able to accomplish, we simply cannot absorb the cost.”
Madden initially included funding for the positions in his proposed budget, a spending plan he said he proposed to set a baseline for the actual cost of existing city services, but the funding was included among about $700,000 in cuts recommended by a group of City Council members that included Republicans John Donohue and Dean Bodnar and Democrat Robert Doherty.
The positions themselves were not cut from
the budget, though, with the officers instead returned to the department’s regular roster to fill existing vacancies elsewhere in the department.
Beyond the 2017- 18 school year, both school and city officials are hopeful of obtaining a new grant to cover the costs,
though Madden admitted some concern given the current political climate and the dicey status of federal budget negotiations.
“I think our best hope is another grant, but we don’t know what’s going on in Washington,” he said.
According to the Justice Department, school
resource officers are sworn law enforcement officers responsible for providing security in schools, with their responsibilities similar to regular officers in that they can make arrests, respond to calls and document incidents that occur within their jurisdiction. School and city offi-
cials also say the officers help to improve the profile of police by offering opportunities for positive in-
teraction with young people that can carry over to their relationship with police outside the classroom.