Ottumwa council adopts three-year school resource officer agreement with district

The Ottumwa City Council voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 153-2026 approving a three-year school resource officer (SRO) agreement between the City of Ottumwa and the Ottumwa Community School District.

Administrator Rath told the council the current agreement "expires today" and that staff and district officials reached a tentative renewal intended to "bring the dates and the compensation current." Rath said the SRO program "promotes cooperation and improved communication between the city and the district" and that officers become part of the district safety team to help build safe learning environments.

During council questions, the police chief said the city has had SROs in district schools "going on about two decades now," and staff emphasized the updated contract clarifies what officers can and cannot do under law — for example, officers cannot unilaterally conduct locker searches and must follow legal protections for students. Council discussion also noted that the district helps cover a portion of officer wages and overtime tied to extracurricular events.

The council took a roll-call vote and the resolution passed with affirmative votes from Council members Galloway, Hoffman, DuPray, Cabanis and Reed.

The agreement is intended to continue placing sworn officers in schools as part of coordinated safety teams while spelling out training, compensation and legal constraints. The administration did not present statistical studies on program outcomes during the meeting; questions about program metrics were not resolved in the session.