Clarkston board weighs emergency county increase that would raise school resource officer costs

The Clarkston Community Schools Board of Education on Monday discussed a county-driven increase in Oakland County Sheriff Department costs that administrators say would raise the district’s bill for school resource officers and strain township partners.

The board’s superintendent, Dr. Sean Ryan, told trustees the district currently has one officer assigned to each secondary building and one officer covering the district’s seven elementary schools. He said the district is “evaluating and negotiating with our townships” after what he described as an abrupt county decision that produced “an enormous” and unexplained increase in costs for contracted officers.

Dr. Ryan said the county’s action produced increases in the range of roughly 15–18 percent overall and, for school resource officers, possibly higher. “This increase,” he said, “was done unilaterally … after the election in a very short period of time for both of our supervisors.” The board heard from district business staff that the SRO program’s total cost was about $630,000 and could rise to about $750,000 under the county proposal.

Why it matters: trustees said absorbing the added cost would cut into the district’s general fund and could force reductions in classroom programs. Board members repeatedly emphasized that there is no separate line for building safety in the state school-aid formula, so any locally incurred policing cost would come from the district’s operating dollars.

Details and debate

Beth Rogers (district staff) reviewed the history of how the district has paid for SROs: the district contributed no money prior to the 2015–16 school year, paid $30,000 per year in 2015–16 and through 2017–18, then moved to a 50 percent cost-sharing arrangement for the school year months beginning in 2018–19. Mr. Lucido (district staff) estimated the program’s base total at about $630,000 and said county proposals, including a per-pupil levy and multi-year contract terms, could add tens of thousands of dollars more.

Independence Township Supervisor Chuck File, invited to speak, described the county’s approach as the result of an 18-month activity-based costing study and said the immediate impact is substantial. “This is a million dollars that was not budgeted,” he told the board, describing a near-term first-year hit and the need for short-term fixes and longer-term structural options, including regional policing or alternative dispatch models.

Board members offered a mix of short- and long-term reactions. Trustee Steve Hyer urged registering the board’s concern with the county and suggested surveying the community. Several trustees said they would be reluctant to shift material dollars from classroom programming to cover the full increase; one said, “I would have a very, very hard time funding more money to safety even though, of course, it is paramount to our students' education.” Others argued the SROs provide essential investigative and relationship-building work and that losing them would harm day-to-day safety.

Outcome and next steps

Board leadership — Trustee Crane and President Need — said they would give Dr. Ryan latitude to negotiate short-term cost-sharing with Independence and Springfield townships and to return with proposals for the board. Dr. Ryan said he would meet again with township officials and report back publicly. No formal vote was taken to change district funding; the board’s action was to authorize staff to pursue negotiations and return with recommended options.