Warr Acres to assign a school resource officer to Dove Schools under three-year paid MOU

The Warr Acres City Council on Jan. 20 approved a memorandum of understanding with Dove Schools that will place a city police officer at Dove’s campus as a school resource officer (SRO). Under the agreement Dove will fund 70% of the officer’s fully loaded cost and offered to prepay three years up front; the district sought an upfront payment and a discount for paying the three-year total in advance.

City attorneys and police leadership briefed councilors on operational details: the city will hire the officer (the MOU will support creating one additional sworn position), prioritize SRO training, and maintain backups so the school has a continuous, uniformed law-enforcement presence during the school year. The chief said the SRO will also be a city officer available for patrol duties when school is not in session, but the primary assignment will be at Dove while classes are in session. The city-calculated cost for the officer’s full package was presented as just under $89,000 per year; with a three-year prepayment and a 10% upfront discount Dove’s committed payment was described near $169,000 for three years.

Councilors discussed district audits raised by one council member and the city attorney noted the MOU includes terms that require Dove to cover its share of any collectively bargained pay increases that affect the officer during the contract period. The council approved the MOU and asked staff to set aside the up-front payment so it can be applied to future-year personnel costs if the arrangement continues beyond the prepayment period.