The Chula Vista Elementary School District Board of Education voted 3–2 on Aug. 13 to approve a renewed contract for school resource officer services with the City of Chula Vista that reflects the district's pre‑COVID staffing baseline of 3.5 SROs. Trustee Ramirez Dominguez voted no, citing transparency concerns; Trustees Tolston, Tamayo and President Ugarte voted yes; Trustee Dominguez Cervantes voted no.
The vote implements an earlier plan to roll back a temporary, additional SRO that the district funded with one‑time ESSER (COVID) funds and to pay for the approved contract from the general fund and contributions from dependent charter schools. Superintendent Diego Reyes described the decision as rooted in budget realities: the one‑time funding that supported the extra officer has been exhausted. "We absolutely value the work that CBPD does and especially the partnership," Reyes said in discussion before the vote, adding that the district's commitment is to maintain the pre‑COVID baseline unless additional funds become available.
Board members and staff framed the change as a difficult but necessary budget decision. Trustee Dominguez Cervantes and other trustees emphasized the safety role SROs play, noting thousands of calls for service over the previous 12 months and that SROs provide campus visits, safety patrols, presentations and other functions. Trustees and staff said mitigation steps include district security officers and coordination with Chula Vista Police Department (CBPD). "If there's an emergency, then it's regular officers who get dispatched," Superintendent Reyes said, describing how public safety responses are assigned if SROs are unavailable.
Trustee Ramirez Dominguez opposed the contract renewal in part because she said the public could not readily see in the agenda packet that the district was reducing the supplemental SRO staffing level. Ramirez Dominguez voted "No" at the roll call, saying she opposed the item "due to the transparency issue." The motion carried 3–2.
The board and staff described the decision as part of a larger effort to close an estimated multi‑million dollar budget gap that the district must address in coming months. Reyes and finance staff said the district would consider restoring supplemental SRO staffing if new ongoing revenue or one‑time funds become available in a future budget cycle. The district also agreed to provide the board with clearer budget and contract language on future reductions and savings requests.
The approved item renews SRO services under a contract the city attorney had already signed and will permit the district to pay for officers while staff continue operational reorganization and budget planning. The board recorded that the vote followed previous discussions and a public budget workshop.