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Commission approves COPS grant application and MOU for West County school resource officers
Summary
St. Francois County commissioners authorized applying for a Department of Justice COPS grant and approved a memorandum of understanding with West County School District to place two commissioned school resource officers (SROs) in district schools; the grant would cover 75% of costs, with the school paying the remainder.
St. Francois County commissioners voted to authorize the county to apply for a U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant to fund school resource officers and approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the county and West County School District to place two SROs in district schools.
The commission voted “aye” after a motion to permit the grant application and a separate motion to approve the MOU. The county attorney or clerk did not identify a fiscal cost to the county during the discussion; officials said the grant would pay 75% of the officer costs and the school would pay the remaining 25%.
Commissioners emphasized that the arrangement stems from the fact the school district is in the county’s unincorporated area and thus the county is the appropriate applicant. The MOU sets the SROs’ employment and supervision relationship: the officers will be employees of the West County School District, report day-to-day to school supervision, and be commissioned through the sheriff’s office so they may enforce law on school property. The sheriff’s office clarified that, per the MOU and grant requirements, the officers would be commissioned deputies but report to school leadership for routine direction; the sheriff retained the ability to be contacted if a school incident required it.
Commissioners and the sheriff discussed staffing implications. The sheriff and other speakers said the SROs would be full police academy-trained, commissioned officers; the SRO positions are expected to be 10-month jobs and generally carry lower pay than county deputies. The sheriff and commissioners repeatedly stated the district or grant would cover the salaries and that the county was “just handling the process.”
The motion to apply for the grant and the motion to approve the MOU both passed with the board calling the vote “aye,” with no member recorded as opposed.
Commissioners framed the SRO program as both a safety and a relationship-building measure: one commissioner said the presence of resource officers “makes the students realize that cops aren't bad” and gives officers an opportunity to act as mentors.
Implementation details discussed during the meeting: the grant requires the MOU language stipulating that SROs are supervised by school officials; SROs will receive commission certificates from the sheriff’s office; SROs may be assigned summer or school-year duties per the district’s employment terms; and the district will pay the non-grant portion of salary costs.
No timeline for hiring or deployment was specified at the meeting.
Ending: Commissioners directed staff to proceed with the application and to finalize the MOU language as required by the grant; no additional deadlines were announced.
