Kaneland school board OKs school resource officer, traffic control at Harter Middle School

The Kaneland School District 302 board approved two measures with the village of Sugar Grove on Monday to make it safer for students.

The board unanimously approved the agreement for a school resource officer as well as an arrangement for traffic control at Harter Middle School, where children returned to the classrooms this week.

Similar to traffic control that’s being used at Kaneland High School, the new traffic control at Harter will occur before and after school at the intersection of Harter Road and Esker Drive in Sugar Grove.

Julie-Ann Fuchs, associate superintendent for the district, said a police officer will direct bus drivers as well as parents who are dropping off and picking up their children in the morning and afternoon so they can depart safely onto Harter Road. The school has about 1,000 students.

“The school buses need to turn left onto Harter Road as part of their bus route,” Fuchs said. “At the same time, many cars are trying to turn onto Esker Drive. By helping with the traffic control before and after school, the traffic officer will provide additional safety measures at that intersection and also provide efficiencies of getting the school buses to Kaneland High School in a timely manner.”

The new traffic control measures will cost the district $80 an hour with a two-hour minimum. Total cost is expected to be about $55,000 for the year. Fuchs said the cost is consistent with the amount that’s being paid to Kane County for traffic control it has provided at Kaneland High School.

The agreement is for two years and good through Aug. 31, 2026.

The intergovernmental agreement for the school resource officer matches that same time frame.

The cost for the officer is estimated to be $80,000, which Fuchs said is close to but higher than what the district is paying for the officer at the high school.

“The IGA for the SRO is modeled after the one currently in place with Kane County,” Fuchs said. “The only variations are the fact that it’s the village of Sugar Grove instead of the Kane County’s Sheriff’s Office and additionally the police officer has different times because of how the school day is a different time, so some of those specifics to this building would be the only changes that we have or that we made in the actual intergovernmental agreement. All of the content is pretty much the same.”

Last year, a resource officer suffered minor smoke inhalation while helping students and staff to safety during a fire.

Effective Sept. 1, the village of Sugar Grove will assign one patrol officer to serve as a resource officer at Harter, working as staffing levels permit a 40-hour week during work hours at the school (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.) or any adjusted start/end time followed by the district on days that students are there.

Also at the meeting, Kaneland senior Katie Pfotenhauer, who is serving as school ambassador, provided a brief update on the beginning of the school year, including freshman orientation.

“One thing I personally noticed was that more parents are worried about their freshmen entering high school than actual freshmen [are worried], she said. “So that was good to hear.”

She said she hopes the board looks forward to her communications as much as she likes giving her classmates a voice. In addition to school work, Pfotenhauer is involved with Student Council, Student Advisory Board and the Kaneland Krier.

“I like to be social,” she said. “And this gives me the opportunity to share.”