Brandon Twp.- School board members, the superintendent, and government officials all agree that a police presence in the school district is valuable.
But who should hold that position, with what authority, and how it will be paid for is up for debate.
With those questions unanswered, the school board has decided to table a proposal to cut the school liaison officer position.
The board discussed the matter March 2 during a special study session, along with several other proposed cuts that will be voted on during the March 16 meeting at ITEC, 609 S. Ortonville Road.
The township has a contract with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office for police coverage, which includes a deputy assigned to the school district for 10 months out of the year. The township pays for the school liaison officer as part of the total contract, but is reimbursed $118,000 by the school district for the position, which covers salary, benefits, and the patrol unit.
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Yuchasz was opposed to terminating the OCSO contract for a police liaison officer.
‘It’s a bigger picture than walking the halls,? he said. ‘School shooters often choose the place least defended. We need to keep (the school liaison officer) because we are attached to this decision, to anything that happens… How long do you want to be waiting for someone to get here? Yeah, they’re coming, meanwhile, six minutes go by. If you need someone arrested, (a dean of students/retired officer) won’t do that… If it’s a brawl or a bad accident with a bus, do you want a retiree or a cop??
The board agreed to table the issue, with Outlaw noting that if adjustments needed to be made, the board could bring the matter back for discussion at a later date.
The township formerly helped pay for the position, but in recent years, the district has borne the total cost.
The proposal at the study session was for the school board to terminate the police liaison contract and instead contract a retired police officer as a ‘Dean of Students? to serve the district.
In presenting the proposal, Superintendent Matt Outlaw said there is no flexibility in the current OCSO contract, leaving the district with an ‘all or nothing option.?
He noted that both Oxford and Holly school districts successfully use retirees as deans of students at a ‘much more reasonable cost.?
‘A dean of students would also have more flexibility in duties and thus could further support our principals in providing a safe and orderly environment for our students.?
The proposal would give the district an estimated $59,000 in savings, but was tabled after disagreement among board members.
‘I don’t want to go with nothing, but I want something similar at half the cost,? said Board President Kevin McClellan. ‘If we employed a retired police officer, what do we lose? If the gap is minimal, I like the idea of a retired law enforcement person.?
OCSO Sgt. Greg Glover said a school liaison officer is not only an armed deputy, but someone who has been trained to teach, counsel, and protect the school community. The officer is present, along with several reserve officers (free of charge) at extracurricular school activities, including sporting events and dances. The officer builds relationships with students and faculty and can even visit the homes of students to speak with them and their families.
He cites studies showing that benefits of having an effective police officer in the schools include: increased safety in and around the schools; increased perceptions of safety; improved police call response times; reductions in truancy; fewer distractions for teachers from their primary role of instruction; a decrease in fights; fewer reported cases of bullying; less marijuana use; and increased traffic safety and enforcement.
‘The presence of a police officer in the school can prevent problems from occurring and serve as a calming influence on campus,? said Glover. ‘They can quickly intervene in situations where appropriate.?
Elimination of the position would mean no officers assigned to football or basketball games or to dances. Reserve officers who volunteer must be under the supervision of a full-time police officer. Traffic enforcement would only occur if township patrol cars were not involved in regular police matters and calls to the school for police incidents would be handled like all other calls, with a regular rotation by call importance.
Glover noted that in the last major incident at the school in December, in which a BHS student made threats on an anonymous app to shoot students and faculty, the investigation and response was immediate and the quick arrest of Jacob Young was a direct result of contacts that the current school liaison officer had with students that trusted him and were willing to talk because of relationships he had built with those students.
‘This was an act of terrorism with specific threat of an incident such as Columbine that no one thought could happen to our community until it did,? said Glover. ‘Of all the major school (shooting) incidents such as Columbine and Sandy Hook, those schools had no police presence and the responsible shooters knew that. I don’t know of a school shooting in our country where there was a police officer assigned.?
Glover said a retired officer/dean of students has no more police authority than a teacher.
Outlaw asked for input from two school board members who are also police officers? Diane Salter, who works with the Troy Police Department, and Chris Yuchasz, employed by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.Salter spoke in favor of hiring a retired police officer as a dean of students, saying such a person would still offer the district a police presence, and that police would still respond to school buildings when necessary.
‘One big thing? we do not lose a police presence,? she said. ‘If we have a dean of students, we will still have the same eight deputies here (for threats). When we have a game or event, we can contract police officers.?
Yuchasz was opposed to terminating the OCSO contract for a police liaison officer.
‘It’s a bigger picture than walking the halls,? he said. ‘School shooters often choose the place least defended. We need to keep (the school liaison officer) because we are attached to this decision, to anything that happens… How long do you want to be waiting for someone to get here? Yeah, they’re coming, meanwhile, six minutes go by. If you need someone arrested, (a dean of students/retired officer) won’t do that… If it’s a brawl or a bad accident with a bus, do you want a retiree or a cop??
Both Brandon Township Supervisor Kathy Thurman and Groveland Township Supervisor Bob DePalma said they and their boards have not been formally approached about helping to pay for the school liaison officer position.
Depalma noted that his board had previously declined to contribute money for the position, despite Groveland having several hundred students in the district.
Thurman said Brandon Township has ‘quite a few? taxpayers whose children attend Oxford Schools and if the township contributed to the liaison position here, there would also need to be support for the Oxford position (which is a deputy of students, not a police officer).
The school board agreed to table the issue, with Outlaw noting that if adjustments needed to be made, the board could bring the matter back for discussion at a later date.