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Board debates bringing SROs back via three-year MOUs with Groveport, Madison Township
Summary
Superintendent recommended three-year MOUs with Groveport Police and Madison Township Police for school resource officer coverage; public commenters and board members raised concerns about notice, evaluation, training, and auto-renewal clauses.
The superintendent presented a recommendation at the July 22 special meeting to approve three-year memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the Groveport Police Department and Madison Township Police Department to provide school resource officers in district buildings.
"So item 1, superintendent recommends that Groveport Madison School's Board of Education approve the attached SRO MOUs with Groveport Madison Police Department and Madison Township Police Department," staff told the board, and a motion to consider the recommendation was moved and seconded. Public commenters—including Pete Cucio, who identified himself as "vice president of the FOB, Capital City Lodge 9"—spoke in favor of local SROs, with Cucio saying, "A school resource officer is more than just, you know, disaster plans and emergency response... Building that trust in times of peace makes it so much easier for those young folks to trust those officers in times of crisis."
Board members pressed staff on selection and evaluation processes for partner agencies, training requirements (de-escalation, diversity and implicit-bias training), and the contract terms that included automatic-renewal language. The superintendent said the district can provide input to partner organizations' evaluations but cannot directly supervise officers who are employees of other organizations; he proposed establishing feedback loops and periodic reviews and noted plans to pursue federally recognized de-escalation training with administrators. On contract length, staff recommended three-year terms to avoid frequent staffing disruptions, citing difficulty finding trained SROs and the shared financial commitments required of partner agencies.
The transcript records the motion being moved and seconded and extensive discussion; it does not record a final roll-call vote on the SRO MOUs in the provided segments. Several board members apologized to parents if the automatic-renewal language caused panic and said the district would improve communications and an evaluation schedule for contracts.
