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Wayne parents press board to keep police officers after contract change amid $7.1 million shortfall
Summary
At an April 3 public meeting, parents and educators urged the Wayne Board of Education not to remove school resource officers after the district reported a canceled contract with the Wayne Police Department and outlined a roughly $7.1 million budget gap. Board officials said a resolution and more details are forthcoming.
At its April 3 meeting, the Wayne Board of Education faced sustained public comment urging officials to maintain police-based school resource officers after the district said a contract with the Wayne Police Department for Class III/school resource officers had been canceled.
“Leave them in the building,” Jeff Diverter, an educator and parent, said. “No child can learn, no teacher can teach if they do not feel completely safe.” Multiple parents and teachers told the board they view SROs as trusted figures who do more than enforcement and warned that replacing them with board-hired guards or third-party contractors could reduce accountability and response capabilities.
The issue surfaced in the board’s opening remarks when Dr. Toback said the contract had been canceled and that President Pavlak had issued a district press release. Residents pushed for documentation and transparency. Laura Walker, a Wayne resident and parent, asked for any binding agreement or financial record related to an asserted $50,000 administrative fee being discussed online; Dr. Toback replied the district is not in arrears on administrative fees and said there has been a shared-services agreement in place for SROs.
Several speakers tied the security discussion to the district’s fiscal picture. Rachel Cooper and others warned that staffing cuts — the district has proposed reductions that community members say total about 40 positions — and a reported roughly $7.1 million budget gap could affect programming and safety. Dr. Toback and other board officials described the shortfall as driven by long-term funding limits, rising special-education and insurance costs and the impact of failed referenda on capital reserves.
Board officials repeatedly told the public they would not sacrifice school safety. One district speaker said, “I am never gonna compromise on school security,” and the board said it expects to release more concrete information when the time is appropriate. The administration also said a resolution related to contract adjustments is forthcoming and that the board will share details at an upcoming meeting.
Other community concerns raised at the meeting included (1) whether changes to SRO arrangements would expose officers to personal liability or alter their authority, (2) inequities in building security such as the presence or absence of vestibules, and (3) whether outsourcing before-and-after-care services would be feasible on a short timeline. The board invited attendees to follow up after the meeting and promised to post relevant documents to the district website.
The meeting closed with routine business and motions to proceed through the agenda. The board plans to provide additional information about the security contract and any proposed changes at a future meeting.
