Omaha Public Schools board approves SRO agreements worth about $1.75 million

The Omaha Public Schools Board of Education voted to approve school resource officer (SRO) agreements with the City of Omaha, the City of Bellevue and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, covering SROs assigned to district schools and committing a combined total of $1,749,322.20 for the 2025–26 year. The board approved the contracts by roll call vote, 7–0.

The agreements provide 14 full‑time SROs through the Omaha Police Department, and eight associate SROs who work 28 hours per week, plus two full‑time SROs (and an additional threat‑assessment reduction SRO) through Bellevue and two full‑time SROs through the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. The district’s anticipated agreement amounts are $1,470,355.20 (Omaha), $152,344 (Bellevue) and $126,623 (Douglas County).

School safety director Donnie Morrison summarized the district’s position before the vote. “School safety is our top priority in Omaha Public Schools, and school resource officers are a key partner in this work,” Morrison said. He told the board the district has had SROs since the 1995–96 school year and described SRO duties that include threat‑assessment work and completing required annual school safety assessments.

Board members asked several operational and policy questions before the vote, focusing on how SROs would respond if immigration agents (ICE) came to a school, how the district measures SRO performance, complaint channels, and required training. Omaha Police Department Lieutenant Charles Ott told the board that Omaha SROs do not participate in immigration enforcement and that his expectation—absent a valid warrant—is that SROs will take a peacekeeping role and notify supervisors and school administrators. “We do not get involved in immigration enforcement,” Ott said, adding that if agents present a valid warrant the SROs cannot obstruct lawful action.

Bellevue Sergeant Jessica Manning and Douglas County Captain Christopher Peterson gave similar answers: SROs focus on building safety and treat any request from other agencies on a case‑by‑case basis. Peterson said the sheriff’s office would pull its SRO from a school to avoid harming long‑term relationships if immigration enforcement were underway and no lawful warrant existed.

Morrison told the board the district receives monthly statistics from partner agencies and that annual feedback surveys for SROs go to school administration. He said the district’s school safety office communicates regularly with SRO command staff and helps route concerns. When asked about training, Morrison and law‑enforcement speakers said agencies must provide two hours of implicit‑bias training annually under state law; the agencies’ training units determine the curriculum and adapt it to local needs.

Motion and vote details: the motion to approve the agreements was made by Dr. Holman and seconded by Mr. Smith; roll call produced seven ayes and no nays.

The contracts were adopted as presented. Implementation will follow the start of the 2025–26 school year; board members and staff said the district will continue to monitor SRO performance and the complaints process.