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Funding affects West Valley school-resource officers By Melissa Leu and Eddi Trevizo The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:47 AM Some West Valley schools have police officers on campus, an idea that got a renewed push by the National Rifle Association. The NRA is advocating for armed guards on every school campus after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 children and six educators this month. Currently, there is a divide among high schools. Those in such cities as Avondale, Peoria and Surprise have police officers, called school-resource officers, on campus, while many high schools in Glendale do not. It comes down to money. [So it sounds like most schools will gladly have a cop, police officer or school resource officers on their campus - As long as the school doesn't have to pay the cops $96,200 yearly salary] As the recession hit, funding for school-resource officers dried up, causing the Glendale Police Department to pull back its officers from schools. State funding for school officers was cut nearly in half amid tight finances the past five years. A Democrat state lawmaker is calling to renew that funding. Beyond money, the proposal is one that is sure to spark conversation in West Valley communities and beyond. “Obviously, we think it’s the right thing to do to have a police officer there for our middle schools and high schools — because they already are there,” said Christy Agosta, a school-board member in the Deer Valley Unified School District. Whether to have armed guards in elementary schools is a tougher question. “As a parent, as well as a school-board member, having my kids have to go by armed security arriving at schools is kind of a heartbreaking thought,” Agosta said. “I’m mixed. … If there had been an armed guard standing outside Sandy Hook, those parents still might have their children. So it’s hard to say we shouldn’t.” She said such a decision would have to come after a community conversation. School-resource officers are armed and have the authority of a police officer [and they ARE POLICE OFFICERS], but their duties go beyond security. They offer lessons on law-related issues and add a friendly face on campus for students and staff to turn to for advice. Police officials credit them with reducing the number of student disciplinary problems. In 2011, before Centennial High School in Peoria hired its resource officer, the school reported 318 disciplinary incidents. That dropped to 147 incidents, according to Peoria police.
Centennial resource Officer Dave Fernandez typically starts his day at 6:30 a.m. in the school parking lot, helping parents navigate traffic.
[Why do you need a cop that is paid an average of $96,200 a year to help parents navigate traffic???]
After about an hour, he heads to his office to answer e-mails, and if nothing major is happening, he walks the campus.
[So most of the time he does nothing. Well other then answer e-mails and help parents navigate traffic. And this guy is paid an average of $96,200]
“The best way to see if there is an issue is to be outside looking and talking to people,” Fernandez said.
He said the Sandy Hook shootings were a tragedy. “But we think about these things constantly not just after something has occurred.”
Dale Nicol, principal at Sunrise Mountain High School in Peoria, said resource officers act as a preventive measure.
“He can gather (information) as a result of making connections with students.
[I suspect teachers and other school employees can also gather (information) as a result of making connections with students. Do you really need a cop that is making an average of $96,200 a year to do that???]
Consequently, we can intervene and stop negative behaviors before they escalate,” Nicol said.
But a divide exists among the Peoria district schools, which stretch across Glendale and Peoria.
The district partners with the city to pay for resource officers in its Peoria-based high schools, but Glendale does not provide funding.
“The police department’s budget is not able to support funding of these positions at this time,” Glendale police spokeswoman Tracey Breeden said.
She noted districts can hire off-duty officers to work in schools.
For the Peoria district, the cost of having officers in Glendale high schools is beyond its budget.
“Grant opportunities are scarce. It becomes funding issues for both the city and the school district,” said Steve Savoy, Peoria’s administrator for K-12 academic services.
The salary of Peoria’s school-resource officers averages $96,200 per year including benefits, Peoria police spokeswoman Amanda Jacinto said. In the past, it was paid by a combination of grants and school district and city budgets.
When the money disappeared, the Peoria district and police partnered to continue the program. The district pays about $30,000 toward the officers’ salaries, and Peoria police pay the rest.
The district relies on neighborhood patrol officers at its Glendale high schools.
The Deer Valley district shoulders the cost of paying officers $30 to $35 an hour for each of its five high schools and three middle schools in Glendale and Phoenix, said Bill Gahn, the district’s director of school operations.
The district earmarks about $300,000 in its budget, which is supplemented through event ticket sales.
An officer is almost always on campus during school hours and after-school events, but the same officer doesn’t always work every day of the week, Gahn said.
“It adds a calming presence on campus,” Gahn said.
Two years ago, Glendale Union had to eliminate its school-resource officers. At one point, the district had officers at seven of its nine campuses in Glendale and Phoenix, district spokeswoman Kim Mesquita said.
That number declined with state grant funding. When the district failed to win the grant last school year, the officers disappeared completely. The district now relies mostly on teachers and administrators to pick up the slack.
Avondale’s Agua Fria Union High School District has a resource officer at each school, funded with state grants and shared costs with local police departments.
Surprise’s Dysart Unified School District has resource officers at each of its four high schools with grant funding.
The district’s 20 elementary schools do not have resource officers, Dysart spokesman Jim Dean said.
Resource officers are rare in elementary schools.
Sometimes it’s simply hard to fill the position, said Jim Cummings, spokesman for the Glendale Elementary School District.
His district received federal funding five years ago for officers at Challenger and Landmark schools, but had to return some of that money because of a lack of candidates, Cummings said.
As a result, schools rely on patrol officers.
“When we call, (police are) here in minutes,” Cummings said.
School officials note that elementary schools typically have less of a need for officers than in high schools, where drugs, theft and violence may be more common.
Patrol officers assigned to Peoria and Glendale neighborhoods regularly check in with elementary principals and students, Peoria’s Savoy said.
The Litchfield Elementary School District used to provide resource officers for its middle schools in partnership with the Avondale and Goodyear police departments and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
The program was cut amid budget constraints in 2009.
“We would approve of armed security at our schools if the state or federal government paid for it,” said Litchfield Elementary spokeswoman Ann Donahue, noting the district would not be able to cover the costs.
Whether that happens remains to be seen.
State Superintendent John Huppenthal on Friday noted the NRA’s proposal would be a large expense to an already financially stressed education system.
House Minority Leader Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, said he plans to introduce legislation in 2013 to fully fund and train school resource officers at every Arizona school.
Meanwhile, conversations will continue over what parents and residents want for their schools.
Dysart school board member Jerry Enyon said concerns are high, but school officials go through training and routinely practice safety drills.
“They know what to do to keep the kids as safe as possible,” Enyon said.
Reporter Anne Ryman contributed to this article.
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