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Calvert County approves two reimbursed school resource officers, sheriff says goal is deputy in every school
Summary
The county approved an updated MOU adding two contract school resource officer positions to be reimbursed by the Board of Education, bringing total funded SRO positions to 16 and leaving five schools still without permanent coverage, officials said.
Sheriff Cox told the Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 6 that the Calvert County Sheriff's Office and Calvert County Public Schools had updated their memorandum of understanding to add two contract school resource officers funded and reimbursed by the Board of Education.
The sheriff said the two contract positions will raise the total number of school resource officer positions to 16 and that his long-term goal remains "to have a deputy in every school." Assistant Sheriff Dave Payne described the update as a systematic step and said the MOU now includes the two additional contract deputies, who would be paid at a lower benefits rate and reimbursed by the school board.
Superintendent Dr. Townsville supported the move, calling it "the first step" toward wider coverage and citing improved school security and stronger relationships that SROs build with students and staff. The presentation noted that five schools still lack permanent SRO coverage and that some contract deputies will serve adjacent buildings when appropriate.
Commissioners questioned staffing details and funding terms; the sheriff and assistant sheriff said the two positions are contract positions that would be discontinued if the Board of Education stops reimbursing them after the next May budgeting cycle. The board approved the motion to add the two grant-funded, Board-reimbursed SRO positions by voice vote.
The vote: a motion to approve the addition of the two grant-funded, Board-reimbursed SROs was made and seconded; the motion carried. The county did not provide an itemized personnel-cost breakout in the meeting but said the school board would reimburse salary, benefits and equipment costs for the contract positions.
The board’s action updates an existing SRO MOU that officials said had not been revised since 2019; staff said they will meet annually with school district leadership to review staffing and MOU terms moving forward.
