Milwaukee school resource officers debate; who's paying and how much?
MILWAUKEE - There is a fight over which pot of your tax dollars pays for Milwaukee school resource officers (SRO). Should the city, the school district or both pay? FOX6 News dug into public records to get answers about past contracts.
School resource officers debate
The backstory:
In 2020, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) ended its contract with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD).
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Then in June 2023, a shared revenue law Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature negotiated with city and county leaders required MPS to bring them back. The law gave six months for the district to bring in 25 SROs.
That Jan. 1, 2024 deadline passed. So did the entire year of 2024 – with no school resource officer program.
Deadline set
What we know:
On Thursday, Jan. 23, a judge set a Feb. 17 deadline.
"The judge joined the city to the lawsuit, so the Feb. 17th deadline is not just our deadline, it’s also the city’s deadline. MPS does not hire or train a police force," said Missy Zombor, MPS school board member.
The city and school district still cannot agree on who pays for the SROs.
Wisconsin's Act 12 of 2023 didn't clarify the financial breakdown. It stated the district and the city "shall agree to an apportionment of the costs of meeting the requirements…"
MPS school resource officers; will they help, hurt safety efforts?
A judge ordered MPS to have resource officers back in buildings by Feb. 17. FOX6 News spoke to parents and families about the debate.
"Is the city going to be using the money that they have received from the shared revenue, sales-tax deal to fund the police officers?" Zombor asked.
"I liked what what we had done before the district decided to sever the relationship with the Milwaukee Police Department, where MPS paid for, I believe, 5/6th of the costs when those officers were in schools. And then the city picked up that last one sixth the costs when summer was in and those officers weren't needed in schools," said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson in a news conference earlier in January.
FOX6 News asked the mayor's office, the police department and the comptroller – as well as MPS – for the records to confirm the mayor's numbers. We are still waiting.
FOX6 News did track down previous contracts for SROs. The deals in 2009 and 2015 required the school district to pay for half of the officers – and just the months and times the officers were working in the school program.
In 2009, the contract said MPS was to pay for five of the program's ten officers, with a cap of $375,000 per school year.
In 2015, MPS paid for six officers out of the total, 12. That deal capped MPS – it would not have to pay anything more than $471,000 per school year.
Reaction from leaders
What they're saying:
The Wisconsin Juvenile Officer's Association told FOX6 News a split is the norm in Wisconsin.
"The consensus is both sides should have skin in the game. What that percentage is varies. Some do 50/50. Some do 60/40. It just depends on that relationship between the agency and the school district," said Ben Bastian, Brillion school resource officer and member of the Wisconsin Juvenile Officer's Association.
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Gov. Tony Evers used similar language on Thursday, Jan. 23.
"This is going to have to happen. Everybody has to obey the law, but I do believe that the city needs to have some skin in the game here," Evers said. "When this was negotiated, it was between the city and the Republicans in the legislature. The school district had no skin in the game. So, I think the school district was not part of that conversation. So, since the city was one of the two bargaining groups there, I think the city has to think about: will they have any skin in the game? That has to happen soon."
Now the court clock is ticking to bring police officers back to MPS.
FOX6 News asked for interviews on Friday with the mayor and the police department. Neither agreed.
The Source: The information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.