Pacific Grove Unified and City Police Outline Safety Plan After SRO Contract Not Renewed

Pacific Grove Unified School District trustees on Thursday discussed how the district and the Pacific Grove Police Department will cover campus safety after the board decided not to renew the district's dedicated school resource officer contract.

Superintendent Dr. Adamson told the board she has asked site administrators for immediate needs and identified Chief Casey Day as the city's point person for school contacts, patrols and coordination. "He will be the individual with whom we will plan," Adamson said, adding that PGPD agreed to include school campuses in regular patrols and to be available for trainings, assemblies and sporting events.

Chief Casey Day, who took the chief's post in March, told trustees he favors a community-oriented policing model and repeated the department's commitment to remain engaged with schools. "Our police department operates off of a community oriented policing model," Chief Day said. He described the department's intention to step up visible patrols at school sites and to reinstate a traffic unit focused on school traffic.

Trustees and principals pressed staff and police on two near-term concerns: response time for on-campus incidents and coverage of large events such as Friday football games. Chief Day said emergency calls are prioritized by county dispatch and that violent-crime responses will take precedence over property or trespass calls; he added that staffing levels affect response times. "I'm down 43% in patrol operations," Chief Day said, and said he is pushing to increase staffing and to assign a full-time traffic officer as resources allow.

District staff said money previously dedicated to SRO services will remain earmarked for safety work. Adamson told the board the district will not redirect those funds without committee review. She said the district plans an October safety-committee meeting to analyze site needs and that the funds will support whatever safety strategies the committee recommends.

Principals and other speakers urged continued policing presence at large events and recommended more targeted traffic enforcement around campuses such as Robert Down and Pine Avenue. Principal Barbara Martinez thanked past SROs for mentoring and partnership, and Principal Amira and other site leaders emphasized the value of school check-ins by officers to build relationships with students and staff.

Public commenters who testified during the meeting urged trustees to weigh community survey results showing many families feel safer with an SRO on campus; one commenter urged trustees to "listen to constituents" when deciding safety policy.

The board did not vote on a new contract Thursday. Trustees directed administration to compile a clear list of any essential campus safety services once covered by the SRO contract and to return recommendations for how to fill any gaps, including options that might require board action. Trustees also discussed scheduling regular quarterly meetings between PGPD, the city and district staff so the partnership could be monitored and adjusted.

Board members and staff said they expect periodic updates as the district starts the 2025-26 school year under the new model and will evaluate whether additional agreements or interim measures are needed.

Ending: The district and the police department described a multi-pronged approach that relies on daily patrols, chief-level point-of-contact, targeted traffic enforcement and ongoing safety-committee work. The board asked staff to identify any safety gaps that require immediate action or board direction and to report back with options for the coming school year.