LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday gave its unanimous approval to an agreement for a school resource officer, restoring the position after a four-year hiatus.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen presented to the council the memorandum of understanding with the Lakeport Unified School District.
The agreement will restore the school resource officer position, which the Lakeport Police Department had provided to the district from 1995 to 2012 until staffing and budgetary issues forced the agency to stop filling the job, according to police officials.
Rasmussen told the council that both the district and the city had budgeted for the position prior to the adoption of the fiscal year 2016-17 budget, which was approved in June.
The agreement, which runs from its approval this week to June 30, 2017, calls for the district to cover $70,000 toward the officer's pay and benefits during the school year, from August to June, for an average monthly cost of $7,000.
According to the agreement, the officer will provide a uniformed presence on the district's campuses during school hours and at events, respond to law-enforcement related matters and document crimes at the schools, conduct classroom education programs relating to gangs and drugs, assist with district critical response plan training and school safety plans, and be a liaison for Child Protective Services and home visitations, among other responsibilities.
The city and school district are to meet by mid-January to discuss the agreement and budgeting for the next fiscal year, according to the document's requirements.
The city will pay the salary and benefits for the two months of summer when school is out, at which point the officer would be on general duty with the department.
When the school district board approved the agreement on Thursday, it added a sentence that prorates the contract to the officer's start date, Rasmussen said.
He said his department had intended to have an officer starting on the first day of school on Aug. 10. But because one of his officers is injured – due to an off-duty motorcycle wreck – the school resource officer's start date has been pushed back to Oct. 1.
Councilman Martin Scheel said he and Rasmussen have talked about the issue for a long time, and Superintendent Erin Smith-Hagberg and Lt. Jason Ferguson have been working on it.
“I'm glad we're finally here and the resources are available,” Scheel said.
The council subsequently voted 5-0 to approve the memorandum of understanding.
In other business on Tuesday, the council heard a presentation by a bicycle club on planning for a criterium bike race in downtown Lakeport next summer, and received checks from the Lakeport Main Street Association and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce to go toward the costs for the city's annual July 4 fireworks display.
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Lakeport City Council approves school resource officer agreement
- Elizabeth Larson
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