Park Ridge IL Sept 24 2020 Park Ridge aldermen on Monday narrowly approved a modified agreement that will keep school resource officers at Maine South and Maine East High Schools over the next five years.

With Aldermen Maureen Hartwig, Roger Shubert and Marc Mazzuca dissenting, the school resource officer agreement passed the City Council by a 4-3 vote.

The agreement, which was approved unanimously by the Maine Township High School District 207 Board of Education in August, was modified based on amendments proposed by 1st Ward Ald. John Moran in collaboration with city and school district attorneys. He prefaced his motion to amend the agreement by saying the changes were not meant to be “anti-police” or show a lack of trust, but to strengthen the school resource officer program.

The additions include officer training in “other youth or juvenile-focused topics in furtherance of restorative justice practices.” Fourteen other training requirements are already contained within the agreement.

Additionally, the officer must attend a minimum of 10 hours of training per year. This provision replaces a statement in the agreement that said the officer “shall make best efforts to attend eight hours of training per year.”

Also added to the agreement is language specifying the kind of data that should be collected and reported, including “data on community contacts, meetings, trainings, cases and investigations; educational programs; and other activities that the SRO is involved in at the schools.” Additionally, a modification was made to a section on complaints to clarify that a state law outlines disciplinary procedures against officers and that nothing in the agreement should conflict or take precedence over that.

Complaints against school resource officers would be investigated by the Park Ridge Police Department, not the school board, Moran said.

Sixth Ward Ald. Marc Mazzuca attempted to amend the agreement further by requiring it to be renewed on an annual basis, rather than after five years, but his motion failed 4-3 with Aldermen Moran, Gail Wilkening, Charlie Melidosian and Marty Joyce voting against.

The existing agreement contains a provision that allows the city or school district to terminate it at any time by providing 90 days notice.

Mazzuca called his modification a “simple change” to add “transparency and accountability” to the agreement.

“We’re not there with what’s in front of us right now,” he said, explaining his reason to vote against the agreement.

Hartwig said the council was “being asked to trust a lot” without enough accountability built into the agreement. She added that five years was too long of a time period for the agreement as well.

Earlier, Hartwig said she had concerns about the evaluation process of the program and questioned if “strong metrics” could be developed to better evaluate annually, which was a suggestion from residents Ginger Pennington and Alice Dobrinsky as well.

Shubert did not state the reason behind his own “no” vote and did not make any comments or ask questions during Monday’s meeting.

District 207 Superintendent Ken Wallace told the City Council Monday that the district has committed to providing an annual review to the City Council and an update on the progress of the school resource officer program, including the sharing of “some metrics.” A team of students and staff will present the review to the City Council in June, he said, and the district will “look at ways to provide the accountability that the City Council wants while maintaining student privacy.”

“I see a program that has been largely successful,” Wallace said. “We have had SROs that have respected our students and respected our staff. We haven’t had a lot of complaints about our SROs.”

Language within the agreement says the SRO’s performance will be reviewed annually “with a collaborative performance appraisal process involving the city and district officials.” The process will include documentation of “critical incidents” and will “assess the extent of the SRO’s positive interactions with students, parents/guardians and staff,” as well as the officer’s “participation in collaborative approaches to problem-solving, prevention and de-escalation.”

One Park Ridge police officer is stationed full-time at each Park Ridge high school during the school year.

According to the school resource officer agreement, the program at Maine South and Maine East High Schools is meant to “foster a safe and supportive school environment.” Park Ridge Police Chief Frank Kaminski has said the program provides an opportunity for students to develop a positive relationship with police.

Officers are responsible for “investigating and responding to criminal misconduct” at the schools, but are not allowed to use their police powers to address “traditional school discipline issues, including non-violent disruptive behavior,” unless directed by the principal or a designee of the principal, the agreement says.

The officers do have powers to arrest or issue local ordinance citations to students. The most common citation in the last two years has been related to vaping or possessing vaping devices in school, weekly reports from the police department show. During the previous school year, the officers also issued citations to students for in-school infractions that included battery against another student, possession of marijuana, trespassing and property damage, according to police department data.

Students in District 207 are currently learning remotely this school year, though some educational and extracurricular activities have been occurring on the campuses of all three high schools, including Maine West in Des Plaines.

The city and District 207 have had a school resource officer agreement in place for a number of years. Compensation paid to the school resource officers by the city is reimbursed by District 207, the agreement says.

chicagotribune.com

Share this post: on Twitter on Facebook