Trustees back exploring shared school resource officers; village may cover summer months cost

Salem Lakes — Trustees gave staff a consensus to include a proposal in the next budget cycles for a shared school resource officer program after Trustee Hopkins briefed the board on meetings with school administrators and Kenosha County sheriff’s representatives.

Hopkins said she met with administrators from Trevor-Wilmot, Riverview and Salem schools and with Captain Klinkhamer and Lieutenant Gilly of the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department to discuss SRO duties and coverage models by grade band (pre-K to fourth grade; fifth to eighth grade). Two of the three school districts signaled interest; Trevor-Wilmot indicated it was a “hard no.”

Hopkins explained the timing and cost complications: the village’s fiscal year is January 1–December 31 while the schools’ fiscal year runs July 1–June 30. The villages’ staff asked whether the village would be willing to pay for the three-month summer share of an officer’s annual contract so the SROs would remain in the village year‑round. Hopkins said the village share would be roughly $40,000–$44,000 per deputy for those summer months; two deputies would therefore cost about $80,000–$88,000. Schools would fund approximately nine months of the officer’s cost — Hopkins said the schools’ share was projected to be “close to $90,000” for nine months per officer.

Trustees asked about data supporting the proposal beyond community requests; Klinkhamer and Gilly noted monthly sheriff call reports and coverage patterns that show a nearby deputy can be delayed if they are deployed elsewhere in the county. Hopkins and trustees emphasized that two deputies stationed through the summer would be “in the Salem Lakes area” rather than operating as a county floater and that the summer staffing would also increase patrol coverage in busy seasons.

Trustees did not adopt a binding agreement with the sheriff’s office or the districts at the meeting. Instead they directed staff to include a “new program request” for the budget process reflecting the village pick‑up of the summer share (approximately $40k–$44k per deputy for each of the three months). Trustees said the decision whether to finalize contracts would be made during the budget workshops once exact contract increases and school participation are confirmed.

Ending: Staff will include the SRO summer-share request in the village’s budget materials for board review; formal contractual arrangements would require separate approvals after schools’ participation and the sheriff’s final contract terms are confirmed.