Yorkville schools pay more under new school police officer agreement

As Yorkville’s school district’s student body continues to increase, so has the amount of overtime hours the school resource officer and detail officers have been working at school events.

A new agreement between the school district and the police department would answer the question who pays for these growing responsibilities. The answer is Yorkville School District 115.

Under the agreement, which is set to be voted on by City Council at its Nov. 27 meeting and school board in December, the Yorkville Police Department would still cover the salary and benefits of the one full-time school resource officer, but the Yorkville School District 115 would cover overtime costs for the school resource officer and any detail officer overtime.

The police department and the school district would share 50% of training expenses.

The new agreement helps ensure the costs are more evenly spread, enabling the schools and the police department to maximize efficiency with their communication, Yorkville Police Deputy Chief Garett Carlyle said. Currently, the police department covers all costs associated with the school resource officer, who is based out of Yorkville High School but covers all the district’s schools.

“As we grow, we are trying to lay the foundation of fiscal responsibility for our city and our agency by making sure any overtime or extracurricular activities the school district wants covered by an officer, that the district helps supplement those costs,” Carlyle said. “We’re really happy with our partnership because it helps us be good stewards of the public’s money and have some left in reserve looking into the future.”

According to the agreement documents, the goal of the program is to create a safe, secure and supportive environment for students by fostering a collaborative relationship between them and both the school staff and local law enforcement.

Carlyle said splitting training costs is a priority because the school resource officer undergoes a lot of specialized training to keep current with the best practices in dealing with students and engaging with younger people.

“Most of the job is about educational relationship building with our students and the school staff, such as safe driving practices, and instructing on the dangers of drugs and alcohol at that young age,” Carlyle said. “The officer steps in if someone brings contraband into school, if a fight breaks out between students, or if there are disciplinary issues that rise to a criminal nature. But mostly, we are building relationships with law enforcement and helping put a face to our department.”

The officer also serves as a liaison between the police department and the schools to promote strong communication to safely handle any potential situation, Carlyle said. Such communication is especially vital to ensure the safety of students during extracurricular activities like football and basketball games and school dances. In events with particularly large crowds, detail patrol officers supplement the work of the school resource officer.

“The Yorkville schools have done a great job with their school district security team who our officer works hand-in-hand with every day,” Carlyle said. “It’s not in our planning currently to expand the program more, but we are definitely open to having multiple resource officers.”

If approved, the new agreement between the school district and the police department must be renewed in another four years.