Mentor superintendent: city, district reach ‘considerable progress’ on officer contract; plan calls for city‑hired part‑time SROs

Pete Heath, the district superintendent, told the Mentor Exempted Village Board of Education on May 29 that talks with the city’s representatives and its law director produced “considerable progress” on an agreement to place officers in district schools for the 2025–26 school year.

Heath said the plan shifted from hiring retired officers directly as district employees under an SSO (school security officer) model approved by the board in February to hiring them as part‑time SROs (school resource officers) employed by the city and assigned to Mentor buildings. Heath described the proposed contract as covering 175 days a year, with typical daily hours “about 7 hours and 7 hours and 15 minutes to 7 hours and 30 minutes” so the positions would remain part time under the city’s interpretation of hours.

The change was prompted, Heath said, by the city law director’s view that officers could not be district employees for…