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Board discusses school resource officer MOUs and ICE concerns before approving one‑year agreements
Summary
A board member asked how school resource officers align with restorative approaches and whether ICE activity is being coordinated with campus safety; staff said state law limits SRO disciplinary involvement, SROs primarily serve safety and community roles, and principals would contact district leadership if ICE appeared on campus. The board approved the SRO MOUs 6–0 (1 absent).
Board members discussed memoranda of understanding for school resource officers (SROs) with local law‑enforcement agencies during the consent‑agenda segment after a board member requested the item be pulled for public clarification.
Mister Buckman raised concerns about rumors of ICE presence near campuses and asked whether SRO agreements and practices had accounted for immigration‑enforcement interactions. He said callers had reported rumors about ICE on campuses and asked how the district protects students.
Mister Pinkerton replied that the district had not observed ICE activity on local campuses and that, to date, such coordination had not occurred in the district’s jurisdiction. He said state law and board policy limit SRO involvement in school disciplinary processes and that SROs now play a more secondary role in discipline. Pinkerton described SRO duties primarily as safety support during lockdowns or intruder events and as community engagement through programs such as DARE and morning/afternoon supervision.
Board members asked whether SROs participate in restorative‑justice processes; staff said SROs do engage with students and support rapport building and that the district’s preference is to keep discipline processes led by site administration. The district described protocols requiring school principals to contact the superintendent or delegate immediately if immigration‑enforcement agents appear and said students would not be exposed while officials handle such incidents.
After discussion the board approved the SRO MOUs (including the City of Morro Bay and City of San Luis Obispo agreements) by a 6–0 vote with one absence. Staff noted future agreements are typically three‑year arrangements but that the district had presented one‑year agreements in light of ongoing budget discussions.
