Committee recommends city accept Blue Valley agreement to support high school fire science instruction

The Overland Park Public Safety Committee on Sept. 10 voted to recommend that the City Council accept an agreement with Blue Valley School District to support the district’s fire science program. The agreement outlines the city’s assignment of a training officer to the Blue Valley career-ready curriculum and reimbursement by the district for part of that position’s salary and related overtime.

Deputy/Training staff said the district will reimburse $37,000 toward the salary of the assigned training officer and will reimburse up to $50,000 in overtime costs for adjunct instructors and instructor aids who staff hands-on skills sessions. The department said the program has operated about 4.5 years, has had 89 students participate to date and has a 100% recent skills-test pass rate for the past three years; the department also reported that four former students who completed the Blue Valley program are now full-time Overland Park firefighters.

Training officer Theo Babka and Training Chief (identified at the meeting) were present to answer technical questions. Committee members asked whether similar programs exist with other districts; staff said the department’s formal agreement is only with Blue Valley, although Overland Park personnel provide oversight assistance in a consortium role with Shawnee Mission schools.

Action: A committee motion recommending that the City Council accept the instructor agreement and reimbursement terms from Blue Valley School District passed 6‑0.

Context: Staff said the city reviews and presents the agreement to the committee every two years and that the arrangement supports both the district’s career-ready offerings and the city’s recruitment pipeline for firefighting positions.

Next steps: The committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to the full City Council for final acceptance.