The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office and the Cleveland County Commissioners funded 17 school resource officers for all of Norman Public Schools’ elementary school sites last week after the Norman City Council voted to postpone a resolution that would have allocated $900,995 toward four additional officers.
In a letter sent Friday evening to educators and families, NPS Superintendent Nick Migliorino and Professional Educators of Norman President Adrienne Hall wrote they had met with every council member, school board member, Cleveland County Sheriff Chris Amason and other city and county leaders to discuss the school resource officer program.
“These meetings have ensured everyone is now working from a common baseline of information and an understanding we all, representing our individual entities, believe in providing the best safety and security resources we can in all of our schools,” Migliorino and Hall wrote in the letter Friday.
The letter stated that based on the conversations with leaders, Migliorino and Hall believe council will vote on funding the final four officers listed in the Public Safety Sales Tax at an upcoming meeting, though an exact date was not stated. The next meeting when council could take action is Oct. 24.
As of last week, there is an officer in each school within the Norman district, according to the letter. Migliorino and Hall said in addition to current school resource officer conversations, they have been able to examine data from the program from last year and continue discussion regarding student mental health support.
“We wanted to share these updates with all of you to highlight the progress we are making in the hopes of ensuring our schools are as safe as possible,” Migliorino and Hall wrote. “The safety of all our children is a top priority for both our school district and our entire community, and we are all working together toward safe and effective outcomes for all.”
Cleveland County Sheriff Chris Amason wrote to OU Daily the Cleveland County Commissioners provided advanced funding for school resource officer salaries. He wrote that the commissioners understand the other parties involved need to reach an agreement to fund the remaining portion of the program’s needs.
“Several projects within the Sheriff’s Office have been placed on hold, or delayed to future fiscal years, so that the Sheriff’s Office could help absorb the start-up costs, such as equipment and training,” Amason wrote.
Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant requested council postpone the resolution vote that would have funded four school resource officers in NPS elementary schools during council’s Sept. 26 meeting. They said council needed to have a more thorough discussion with NPS regarding funding.
In response to the postponement, Migliorino and Hall sent an initial letter to NPS parents on Sept. 29 saying while they supported the dialogue and are happy to answer questions from council members, they hope progress won’t be stalled as the district wants to have at least one school resource officer at all NPS sites by January.
“If we insist on having officers at our secondary schools, board meetings, and city council meetings for adults, why would we not also insist on providing the same protection for our elementary schools?” Migliorino and Hall wrote in the September letter.
The 17 school resource officers from the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office were since deployed at each NPS elementary school sites, according to a Facebook post by the sheriff’s office and the letter Migliorino and Hall sent Friday.
Sarah Schettler, NPD public information officer, said on Oct. 18 that until the city votes to fund four additional school resource officers, the county’s provided 17 officers will be stationed at each elementary school. She said the city does not expect the county to provide the 17 officers permanently.
OU Daily reached out to the sheriff’s office to ask if these 17 officers are temporary. The sheriff’s office did not respond by Friday evening.
History behind school resource officer discussion
2008: Norman residents voted in favor of Public Safety Sales Tax I providing a temporary sales tax increase of 0.5% on retail sales from Oct. 1, 2008, to Sept. 30, 2015. The tax funded 41 additional police officers and equipment needed to reinstate the Community Oriented Policing Program.
2014: Norman residents voted to authorize the continuation of the Public Safety Sales Tax II, which would have provided 13 police school resource officer positions in Norman Public Schools. The city has since staffed nine officers, two in both of the Norman high schools, one in each of the four middle schools and one supervising lieutenant officer.
2016: According to an email from City Attorney Kathryn Walker, which OU Daily obtained from Grant, the city’s first agreement with NPS was adopted in 2016, which required the city to provide 13 school resource officers. Six of which were to be assigned in the first year and the remaining seven were to be hired in the second year, subject to available funding.
In the email, Walker wrote that in the event that insufficient funds are available, the number of officers in future years may be adjusted with agreement from the school district and the city. She added that NPS agreed to cover roughly half the cost of the initial six school resource officers in 2016-17.
“It is anticipated that the cost of the program will increase annually due to increases in costs such as personnel and equipment, but the Parties agree to jointly fund the Agreement,” the agreement reads, according to Walker.
Walker wrote the agreement sets up an annual process where the city notifies NPS of increased costs, so they can agree on cost-sharing the next year.
2017: The 2016 agreement was amended in 2017, according to Walker, to recognize three additional officers.
Aug. 8: During a Norman City Council special session, Norman Mayor Larry Heikkila suggested a budget amendment to hire 17 NPD officers to deploy as school resource officers at each NPS elementary school over three years.
Until the city could fund 17 school resource officers, Heikkila proposed changing the city’s interlocal agreement with the school district in order to use sheriff’s deputies as school resource officers.
Grant told OU Daily that expanding the school resource officer program by 17 would cost the city about $6 million the first year and about $4.5 million each year after that. They added the city’s general fund is about $10 million, meaning the city would have a negative fund balance after about two years of funding the school resource officer program.
“We wouldn’t even have the money if we were on the timeline that they initially put forth,” Grant said.
In an email from the city finance director, Anthony Francisco, which OU Daily obtained from Grant, council is also developing other projects aside from the school resource officers project that would require funding.
The bond funds are mainly going toward the Emergency Communications and Operations Center, with spending results leading to a fund balance in the red by about $2,275,330 as of June 30, according to Francisco. He wrote this leaves little to no room for additional operational expenditures, such as school resource officers, meaning the program would require subsidy from the general fund.
Sept. 26: During council’s meeting, a vote for a resolution to fund the four additional school resource officers was postponed.
According to the Sept. 26 council agenda, for NPS’ 2023-24 fiscal year the 50% projected share of the nine active city-funded school resource officers is $766,361. The amount is not projected to increase for the four proposed additional school resource officers.
Oct. 20: Migliorino and Hall sent a second letter to families and educators saying after meetings with council, the school board and county leadership, there is now at least one school resource officer in every facility.
Future of 17 new school resource officers
In the statement from Amason, he wrote to date, the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office has covered all costs of the 17-officer expansion of the school resource officer program.
He wrote the sheriff’s office has an initial agreement in place with NPS, and is working with the city of Norman and NPD to determine how to fund the initiative while determining the sustainability of this program. He added that as of Oct. 19, no funding agreements have been finalized.
Schettler said NPD provided partial coverage for the elementary schools because the middle school resource officers had to cover those schools in addition to officers who had to work overtime to assist with additional coverage at the 17 elementary schools. Schettler also said NPD will be the long term school resource officers in NPS.
Chelsey Kraft, NPS director of communications, told OU Daily on Oct. 19 that the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office has provided a school resource officer for Dimensions Academy, NPS’ alternative education program, for several years. Before the sheriff’s office provided school resource officers for the district’s elementary school sites, NPD officers rotated between them, Kraft added.
When the four school resource officers are funded by the city, Schettler said the total number allotted for Norman police officers hired would increase by four, but the officers would not necessarily be new hires due to the training required for the job.
Grant told OU Daily one of the city council’s main priorities is to be mindful of the city’s budget.
“We shouldn't just be spending our money without really thinking about what the costs are going to be down the line,” Grant said.
Olivia Voth, Thomas Pablo, Alexia Aston, Taylor Jones and Peggy Dodd contributed to the reporting of this story.
This story was edited by Alexia Aston, Taylor Jones, Peggy Dodd and Karoline Leonard. Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
