Ark Valley News - City agrees to help pay for SRO

City agrees to help pay for SRO
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: February 04, 2016

If the school board approves the proposal next week, Valley Center High School could have a school resource officer in its building for the first time in more than five years, thanks to a decision by the Valley Center City Council.

The council voted 7-1 on Feb. 2 to help fund an SRO for the remainder of the 2015-16 school year and the fall semester of 2016. The city would pay 29 percent of the cost (about $22,000, including benefits), while the district will pick up the rest.

"Parents are going to support this 110 percent," said Karen Hager, member of the Valley Center Site Council, which spearheaded the effort to get an officer in the school.

The city and school district partnered in 2013 to have an SRO at the middle school and intermediate school. However, since the high school is outside of the city limits, it is in the jurisdiction of the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Jeff Easter told school and city officials that his department had no money to pay for an SRO, but he would grant the Valley Center Police Department law enforcement authority at the high school.

In a memo to the city council, Easter touted the benefits of an SRO program and cast his support behind the initiative.

While more than one city council member was reluctant to spend unbudgeted funds, one saw the county as shirking its responsibilities, since the high school lies in the county's jurisdiction.

"The county has dropped the ball on that building," Lou Cicirello said. "… The sheriff is shunning his duties by saying he can't afford it."

Superintendent Cory Gibson said both the sheriff's office and Commissioner Richard Ranzau have said the county couldn't afford to pay for an SRO at the high school.

Like the intermediate and middle school position, the high school SRO would be an employee of the city and would answer to Chief Mark Hephner, but would operate under a contract with the school district.

City officers respond to emergencies at Valley Center High School, which is at Meridian and 93rd North and opened in 2010. However, the primary law enforcement duties fall on the sheriff's office.

Principal Jamie Lewis said there were 101 calls to 911 from Valley Center High School in 2014-15, and the school is on pace to match that number this school year. Not all of the calls required emergency responses, he said.

When the high school was in the city limits at 800 N. Meridian, the school had an SRO for a few years before it was cut because of budget constraints.

"I think this is as important for this community as any other officer we have," council member Jake Jackson said.

Senior Club

The city council also learned this week that the city would be seeking someone to fill a director's position for the Senior Club.

Since Jan. 1, the club has been without a director. City staff and other volunteers have been filling in to plan and organize meals and events for the group.

The city said it wanted to hire someone to help at City Hall as well as be director of the senior group, because the Senior Club doesn't require a full-time employee. However, city council members didn't warm to the idea of adding another full-time position to the payroll, especially since it wasn't in the budget.

The city could get a part-time person, but George Kolb, interim city administrator, said that would be a difficult position to fill.

"If we do not do something about this, that organization will fold," said council member Al Hobson.

Mayor Laurie Dove said further discussion of the position will be placed on the agenda for the council's next meeting, which will be Feb. 16.

In other business Feb. 2, the council:

•Approved the re-appointment of Delmer James to a three-year term on the city planning commission and the re-appointment of Gene Sharp and Don Bosken to three-year terms on the site plan committee.

•Approved the appointment of Brent Holper as a delegate and Ron Eckstrom as an alternate to the Kansas Rural Water Association.

•Accepted the financial report and agreed to pay the Valley Center Recreation Commission $6,488 to cover losses at the city swimming pool in 2015. The city owns the pool, while the VCRC operates it. If it loses money, the city makes up the difference. The losses have been steadily decreasing each year.

•Approved a contract with Strategic Government Resources to conduct a search for a city administrator. The process will begin immediately and is expected to last about four months, Dove said. Cost is $25,000, plus traveling expenses for the final candidate.

•Learned that Ted Henry, who worked as an intern in the city's community development department, was hired as city treasurer. He started Feb. 1.