Township to Vote on Resolution for School Resource Officer

Bridgewater Township Mayor Dan Hayes
addresses the audience at the January 7,
2013 township re-organization meeting
at the Municipal Complex.
 

At its regular meeting on Monday, July 1, the Bridgewater Township Council will consider a resolution which will have the effect of adding a second specially trained police officer as a full-time security presence on the campus-like facility of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School on Garretson Road.

The cost of the current on-site school resource officer (SRO) is being borne entirely by the Township.  At issue is the cost for a second SRO.

The township administration and the school board have tentatively agreed on a number for the cost of a second SRO to be paid for by the school district.

However, the township council has placed on the table consideration of a higher figure, as well as the expectation of a contractual time commitment from the school district.

This difference in viewpoints lies mainly in what Mayor Dan Hayes and his administration consider “the incremental cost” of a replacement officer as a fair charge to the school district, versus what some members of the Township council consider to be the actual cost of an experienced SRO assigned specifically to the high school – not the cost of his/her replacement – as a reimbursement to the township.

Here are the data:

Township Administrator James Naples has identified the cost of a new recruit as “$88,208, $95,859, and $103, 942,” respectively, for the first three years of a new officer’s term. This is deemed to be the “incremental cost” over that period of time.

According to Mr. Naples, those numbers represent “fully loaded costs;” that is, they include not only the base salary of a new police officer, but also 100% of that person’s fringe benefits.

Most of those overhead costs consist of pension, health, and social security benefits. Altogether, those three elements represent about $25,000.  The base salary for a police recruit is $48,993.

Bridgewater Township Councilman Matthew
Moench, shown at the January 7, 2013 township
re-organization meeting.

Bridgewater Township Council Member Matthew Moench estimated the “fully loaded” cost of an experienced, current member of the police force to be assigned to the school district as a SRO could range from between “$125,000 to $150,000,” depending upon the specific officer assigned to the task.

He also expressed hope that the assignment of a second SRO to the high school would not ultimately result in a de facto added cost for staffing the police force, should the school district not commit to continue the funding of this position in outer years.

Moench explained that “the Township Council had previously turned down a federal grant” that would have added police officers to the force, that would “cover only 75% of their cost,” and that would lapse after “four years,” leaving the township to pick up the tab.

Clearly, the Bridgewater-Raritan School District will be getting the full value of an experienced police officer in the person of its second on-site SRO, not the lesser value of an inexperienced new hire.

So, which of the two values should the BRRSD pay for? 

On Monday evening, expect a compromise to emerge.  This is as much hard ball politics and public perception as it is anything else, yet each of the parties has expressed its views that a resolution can be achieved.

None of the players will want to be criticized for not providing sufficient school security.
 
Note:  I am grateful to Bridgewater Township Mayor Dan Hayes; Bridgewater Township Council Member Matthew Moench; Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education President Patrick Breslin; and Bridgewater Township Administrator James Naples for background information on this topic, for openly sharing their views, as well as for providing specific data.

(Click on any image for an enhanced view.)