Cumberland Schools renew SRO agreement; Spring Lake schools to start year with security guard instead of assigned officer

The Cumberland County Board of Education’s auxiliary services committee approved a one-year renewal of the memorandum of agreement with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office for school resource officer (SRO) services, continuing coverage of 24 officers in the district during the school year.

Miss Bolden, a staff member presenting the agreement, said the renewal provides "24 officers during the school year, 3 officers in summer school, and then 1 detective ... assigned to support school safety." She told the committee the primary change from the prior year is that the three Spring Lake schools (WT Brown, Manchester and Spring Lake Middle) will no longer receive dedicated officers through the sheriff’s office.

Why it matters: the board heard that Spring Lake’s city police department is unable to provide a dedicated officer for those schools and the sheriff’s office said it could not continue the temporary coverage it provided last year. Miss Bolden said the district will place a security guard at Spring Lake Middle at the start of the year "so they have someone present," and that 911 will provide backup support.

Committee discussion and the vote: Board members asked clarifying questions about who would sign contracts and whether the sheriff’s name should remain on documents; Miss Bolden said the sheriff requested his name remain on documents "until there is a permanent sheriff named." The committee voted to approve the renewal unanimously.

What the action does and does not do: the district will continue SRO coverage across the county under the renewed agreement with the sheriff’s office (24 officers for the school year, three officers and a detective for summer operations), but Spring Lake schools will begin the school year with a district-hired security guard rather than a sworn officer assigned full time. The renewal was approved as written; no additional policy changes were adopted at the meeting.

Background and next steps: the committee also received a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction update noting Fayetteville Police Department will add officers in phases (nine now, projected to 14 by Aug. 31 and 18 by Jan. 31) to staff middle and elementary schools inside the city. The district presented the SRO update as an information and approval item; the renewal will be implemented at the start of the school year.