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AMENDMENT NO. ONE TO CONTRACT K-1516-137: AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, AND NORMAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS INCREASING THE CONTRACT BY $221,853 ($110,926.50 FOR THE CITY’S SHARE) FOR A REVISED CONTRACT AMOUNT OF $648,690 FOR A TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT OF $1,297,380 AND MAKING MINOR REVISIONS TO THE CONTRACT FOR THE SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER (SRO) PROGRAM.
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BACKGROUND: On April 1, 2014, voters in the City of Norman approved the Public Safety Sales Tax II (PSST II). The Ordinance adopting that tax included the placement of thirteen police officers in Norman Public Schools (NPS) as School Resource Officers (SROs). In addition, the Ordinance requires PSST II funds to be used to provide those officers with the proper equipment and a marked police vehicle. To accomplish these items, the City of Norman and the Norman Public Schools adopted an Interlocal Agreement, K-1516-137, on May 24, 2016.
DISCUSSION: The Agreement was for an initial term of five years, subject to funding, beginning on July 1, 2016. During the first year of the Agreement, six SROs were assigned to NPS beginning in August 2016. The six officers consisted of one supervisor and five officers. These officers remained the employees of NPD, but they worked cooperatively with NPS Staff to ensure the best service to the schools and the students.
NPS and the City agreed to jointly fund the Agreement. The cost of the first year of the SRO Program was estimated at $853,674 and NPS agreed to pay half of that cost ($426,837) in quarterly installments. When the Agreement was adopted in May 2016, NPS indicated, due to state level budget issues, that it might not be feasible to move forward with the full roll out of the SRO Program during the second year (when an additional seven SROs were intended to be added).
The second year of the Agreement has arrived, and NPS has asked to add an additional three officers, rather than the originally anticipated seven officers. NPS remains willing to pay half of the increased costs of having nine SROs working in the Norman Public Schools. The anticipated cost for the 2017-2018 SRO program year is $1,297,380, and NPS has agreed to pay half of that in an amount not to exceed $648,690. The City will bill NPS at a rate of $162,172.50 per quarter. Legal counsel for the City and NPS has drafted an amendment, Amendment #1, to K-1516-137 to memorialize the increase in staffing and cost for the program.
The original Agreement also included two attachments that detail the responsibilities of the SROs and the relationship between the SROs, the schools, and the students. Those attachments were developed in coordination with NPS and best practices of SRO programs. After the successful completion of the first year of the SRO program, the NPD and NPS administrators have requested one language change in Attachment B to accommodate the needs of the students, SROs, and administrators. That requested change would remove the words “be present for” from the third bullet point in the Student Rights Section of the attachment. The revised sentence would read as follows: “Absent a real and immediate threat to students, teachers, or public safety, a school official shall not ask an SRO to participate in such a search.” This change allows an SRO to present while a school official conducts a search, especially if there is a safety concern, but not actively participate in an administrative search.
If Amendment #1 of the Agreement is approved, all of the others terms of the original contract, K-1516-137, will remain the same. The NPS School Board approved Amendment #1 at their July 17, 2017 meeting.
RECOMMENDATION: If Council wishes to continue the SRO Program, as so directed by voters with the passage of the PSST II, Staff recommends adoption of the attached Amendment #1 to the Interlocal Agreement with Norman Public Schools, K-1516-137. Funds received from NPS will be deposited into SRO Reimbursement-NPS revenue account (015-0000-366.12-26) to cover operational expenses.