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Sheriff’s office seeks three-year renewal of SRO contract with North Thurston; commissioners press for reporting clarity
Summary
Thurston County Sheriff’s Office presented a three-year contract renewal to provide a School Resource Officer for North Thurston School District’s Nisqually Middle School. Commissioners pressed staff on where statutory data-reporting responsibilities and additional school-required trainings are documented.
The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office told the board it will present a three-year contract to continue providing a School Resource Officer (SRO) for North Thurston School District, chiefly assigned to Nisqually Middle School. The school district will pay $95,000 per year under the proposed renewal.
Sheriff Macias said the agreement continues a joint arrangement with the city of Lacey and that the county has been part of this SRO assignment for about six years. “This will continue it for another 3 years,” he said.
Commissioner Rachel Grant and Commissioner Klaus asked for confirmation of documentation showing compliance with state requirements for SRO programs. Commissioner Klaus asked, “Is there an MOU with the school district that details the program implementation and the operational guidelines for the SRO program?”
Sheriff Macias said the statutory reporting obligation rests with the school district and that the county’s role is to provide trained deputies: “Our job is to provide trained SROs. So our job is to send those SROs to the extra training and make sure that they're showing up to the schools every day.” He said the Criminal Justice Training Commission provides SRO Basic and SRO Advanced courses and that county deputies are sent to those courses. He also said the deputy assigned keeps a log of school contacts that is provided to North Thurston School District.
Commissioners asked where school-requested or district-specific trainings are documented and who maintains proof of completion. Sheriff Macias said the sheriff’s office maintains deputies’ training records, but that districts sometimes require additional training and the district would document that. Deputies assigned to SRO duties were identified by name in the discussion (Deputy Michael Rose) but the transcript contains no formal motion or vote on contract renewal; staff said the item will be brought to the business meeting for ratification.
Clarifying details discussed included the $95,000 contract rate, the three-school-year duration that staff described, and that the SRO assignment to Nisqually Middle School has been provided by the county in partnership with Lacey for several years. Commissioners requested staff confirm whether a separate MOU or documentation exists showing statutory data reporting and the district’s tracking requirements before the business meeting.
