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Albany reviews school resource officer partnership amid staffing constraints and ICE concerns
Summary
Police chief described a long-running school resource officer (SRO) program, current staffing levels (two assigned officers, one primarily visible), an IGA reimbursing the city roughly $185,000 per year and district protocols for responding to federal agents on school property.
The chief of police (named in the transcript as "Chief Marcia Harned" and later as "Marsha Arndon") reviewed the school resource officer (SRO) program history and operation. The chief said the program has operated fairly consistently since 2006 and currently assigns two SROs to the district, noting one — John Wymore — is the primary visible officer while Gina Bell was temporarily reassigned to the detective unit.
On cost and structure, the chief described the program as a cost-sharing model under an intergovernmental agreement covering 2023–2027. She said the district reimburses the city "an approximate $185,000" per year, and that the exact amount varies with salary-and-benefit changes ("approximate because it varies from year to year based on our current CBA").
The chief highlighted non-enforcement duties including relationship building and participation in active-threat drills: "we do 2 active threat skills drills in each school every year" (one planned, one more spontaneous). She described interactions with juvenile services and said the SRO model emphasizes intervention and referrals to juvenile services where appropriate.
Councilors asked about immigration enforcement on school property. A councilor asked what the district’s procedures are for interacting with federal agents. A district representative said the district has communicated with families, has a plan to respond if agents appear on campus and said action on school property requires a warrant; staff agreed to share the written materials previously distributed to families.
No formal changes to the IGA or staffing were decided at the meeting; the discussion highlighted staffing constraints and an ongoing workload tied to child-abuse reports and detective assignments.
