Agenda 12-02-19 Item 8-a - Minutes

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30 1 2019, and both the Sheriff and Eno River Academy would have the option at the beginning of 2 each future fiscal year to approve, amend or discontinue the associated Services Agreement 3 Contract. 4 5 The SRO would maintain the same training and certification requirements as apply to all other 6 certified law enforcement officers in the Sheriff's Office and would be qualified to provide law 7 enforcement services in a manner consistent with customary law enforcement standards and 8 practices. 9 10 Lisa Bair, Executive Director of Eno River Academy (ERA), said the State charges a 11 school principal with the safety of the school, and she and her staff are concerned about the 12 safety issue. She said when one looks at the numbers and response time, versus the time it 13 takes for an event to happen, most of the destruction would be done before there is a response. 14 She said a School Resource Officer (SRO) can help the school with that opportunity. She said 15 a SRO is also a motivator or advocate for the students, because they are trained. She said 16 when one considers social equity, all schools have the right to safety. She said her school will 17 put up 100% of the funds if the County will approve the position. 18 Mike O'Malley, Vice Chair ERA Board of Directors, said school safety is not taken lightly, 19 and ERA is willing to work collaboratively with the Sheriff's Department to keep all kids safe. 20 Amy Simonson, ERA Community At-Large Board member, said it is important to 21 connect the community and the school in positive ways. She said SROs are a fundamental 22 member of the community, and having one at ERA is highly supported by the school. She said 23 ERA has agreed to pay for the SRO, including benefits and transportation, and the position 24 would be at no cost to the County. She said this would provide prevention and interaction, and 25 ERA would like to see a statewide SRO program in place. 26 Sarah Yagnow said her son and daughter's safety is her#1 concern. She said this 27 position would be at no cost to the County, and would foster a culture of safety that the SRO is 28 trained to do. 29 Kristi Anspach, Eno River Academy Board Chair, said she is a lifelong resident of 30 Orange County and a product of local public schools. She said there was an incident at Efland 31 Cheeks while her son was there, which was very concerning, but private schools were not an 32 affordable option. She said ERA offered an alternative, and she has seen the school grow and 33 offer alternatives to many families. She said the ERA Board approved 100% funding for this 34 SRO position, and this is the type of precedent that the Board of County Commissioners should 35 want to set: valuing child safety, and being fiscally responsible. 36 Brad Tapper, ERA Board member, said he is an advocate for the SRO as safety is a top 37 concern, and is near and dear to his heart. He said earlier the BOCC spoke about safety 38 concerns and wanting rumble strips on the road, and now ERA is asking for the same thing: 39 safety at the school. He said ERA will fund this position completely, and is asking the BOCC to 40 put ERA students on a level playing field with everyone else. 41 Sheriff Blackwood said the County currently does not have an SRO at the school. He 42 said his department has been encouraged by the school to walk through the halls to identify 43 safety concerns. He said since 2017 there have been a total of 463 calls to the school involving 44 suspicious activity, response to alarms, locked keys in cars, minor crashes, etc. He said the 45 position would be fully funded by ERA, and would cost $70,069. He said the decision tonight is 46 not whether or not to assign an SRO to the school, as he plans to do this anyway. He said the 47 decision tonight is whether the Board will offer him an opportunity to get an FTE for him to 48 offset this SRO, which will be paid for by the school. He said he hopes the Board will concur 49 that leaving a school without an SRO is a bad decision, and he also hopes the Board would not 50 force him to diminish his services in other areas to fulfill this important need.