Brandon Twp.- The fate of the school liaison officer position remains in question less than two weeks after the school district learned they lost 92 students in this year’s student count, which will equal a loss of $673,072 in revenue.
Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Detective Arnie Terrell has been the district’s school liaison officer for the past six years, keeping an office at Brandon High School, solving juvenile crimes, counseling youth and putting on police programs throughout the district.
‘We are hoping to keep him and are looking at options to do that,? said District Superintendent Lorrie McMahon. ‘We are looking at our budget and will talk to both Brandon and Groveland township supervisors, once I get a grasp specifically on where we are.?
The school board voted 5-0 on June 9 to approve a school budget that included nearly $1 million in cuts, including the school liaison position, for which the district contributed $40,000 per year, with Brandon Township paying $74,000, the remainder of Terrell’s salary and benefits. Groveland Township, which has about 900 students in the district, does not currently contribute anything to the position.
Although the district lost students, McMahon is still expecting a revenue increase for the district of $112 per student. The foundation allowance is currently $7,316 per student.
‘We are looking at what that means and figuring out the costs of restoring any of the cuts and seeing what we can do,? she said. ‘We hope for support from the supervisors and it will be open to discussion. We can’t put a dollar amount on what we are hoping for from the townships, that’s not fair to anyone… We’ll know what our options are by December, for sure.?
OCSO Sgt. Pete Burkett said now more than ever, the school liaison officer position is needed. He cited the recent arson fires on Hadley Road set by juveniles. The crime was solved by Terrell.
‘It’s hard to understand the intricacies of police work,? Burkett said. ‘A patrolman off the street can’t just go into a school and get kids to talk. Right now, we have a person (Terrell) who has been part of this school for the last six years. He’s like one of the teachers there. He knows the kids. We wouldn’t solve half of these crimes without him.?