Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Glendale holds first read on School Resource Officer MOU; council discusses reimbursement, benefits and equipment
Summary
Council took a first reading on an MOU authorizing a School Resource Officer at Bethany School; discussion focused on whether the school will reimburse pension and benefit costs, who will own equipment purchased by the village, and the SRO’s duties during village emergencies.
At the November meeting the Village of Glendale Council conducted a first reading of Ordinance 2025-49 authorizing the mayor to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Society of the Transfiguration, operator of Bethany School, to station a School Resource Officer (SRO) at the school.
Administrator David and police staff described the draft MOU as prepared by the solicitor and the administration but not yet finalized with the school; the ordinance was presented as a first read with the intention to finalize language and consider adoption in December. Council members asked detailed budget and personnel questions about Section 2(d) of the draft—whether the SRO, as a village employee, would receive pension contributions and benefits and whether the school would reimburse those costs. Administration confirmed reimbursements would include pension contributions and other benefits; council members asked staff to clarify wording and preferred the term “reimburse” in the contract language.
Council also discussed capital assets and outfitting: staff said the village would purchase capital items (vehicle, equipment) for the officer and that ownership would remain with the village if the school or society ended the arrangement. Questions were raised about whether a dedicated, fully equipped police vehicle assigned to the SRO would be marked as Village of Glendale; staff confirmed it would.
Members discussed operational flexibility: in system-wide emergencies the SRO could be reassigned to assist village operations and officers already make daily checks on other Glendale schools. Administrator David noted the ordinance is coupled with appropriation Ordinance 2025-50 (first read) to create a budget function for SRO costs and that the numbers in the appropriation may change depending on the SRO start date and final contract terms.
Next steps The MOU remains at first-read stage. Staff will circulate any revised draft received from Bethany and bring a final contract and appropriation figures back to council for consideration in December.
