City to consider SRO pacts
BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 5 months AGO
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | July 5, 2023 1:00 AM
COEUR d’ALENE — The Coeur d’Alene City Council is expected to consider agreements today with North Idaho College and the Coeur d’Alene School District to provide school resource officers from 2023 to 2025.
“This partnership with NIC is extremely valuable and demonstrates our commitment to keeping our students safe,” according to a staff report. “Having an SRO at the school throughout the summer continues this partnership and is in the best interest of NIC and the community."
The city provided NIC with an SRO for several years.
Under the agreement, NIC will pay the full amount of the SRO’s salary, not including benefits, plus any overtime associated with this function. This amount covers roughly 63% of the cost of the officer’s regular wages and benefits for the officer assigned to NIC, not to exceed $98,862.80 for the first year and $101,828.69 for the second year, the report said.
The SRO will be on campus year-round, and NIC will provide an office for the officer.
The City Council will also consider a similar two-year arrangement with the Coeur d’Alene School District.
The city has maintained a contract with the district to provide an SRO for several years “in a collaborative effort to ensure the safety of the students and staff.”
Under terms of the deal, the district agrees to pay 67% of nine months’ salary and benefits of eight officers to be paid quarterly in equal installments.
The city agrees to have officers attend various sporting events and other extracurricular activities as needed.
The contract is basically the same as previous ones, with the only notable change being the addition of Northwest Expedition Academy to the list of the elementary schools, according to the report.
The City Council is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. today in the Library Community Room. It did not hold its usual Tuesday meeting due to the Fourth of July holiday.
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