Ephrata council pursues school resource officer

EPHRATA - Ephrata is developing an agreement for a school resource officer, but the officer may not be going to the city's schools.

City Administrator Wes Crago presented a draft agreement to the city council during a recent meeting, saying the Ephrata School District approached him about creating the position.

"There have been on and off talks probably going back 10 years about the idea of having a school resource officer," he said.

The district and the city began the latest round of discussions in January, Crago said. Representatives spoke about the concept in a meeting, and agreed it was worth working on.

"(We) thought we probably should put a framework around the collaboration through a joint memo of understanding," he said. "The school district hasn't gotten us their copy of what they would like the memo to work at."

Neither the city nor the school district has money to hire a school resource officer, Crago said; adding it would either need to be added in the budget or something the voters approve a tax for.

The city and the district expect to divide the cost of the position, according to the agreement. The officer will be an employee of the city.

"I think there is a lot of attention right now on school safety," he said. "The school resource officer ... position is just one-part law enforcement. The other parts are counselor and educator, so it's a lot more about relationship, rapport and building trust between entities, than it is just a safety and security officer."

City officials expect the officer would be assigned to the schools when they are in session, and would work at the police department when they aren't, Crago said.

When the city receives the district's version of the agreement, the two entities will begin negotiating a final draft, Crago said. When it is finished, the final agreement will come to council for approval.

"The concrete is extremely wet here. We're not even at the decision stage to have a formal discussion with the school district," he said.

Two city councilmembers expressed concern about using the city's resources for the position. Councilmember Mark Wanke pointed out the city cut its officer in the Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team last year.

"I think it's a good idea, but I still look back at the things we've had to cut that (we) would like to have had, like INET, in and of itself, that serves a lot of people," Wanke said.

Mayor Chris Jacobson pointed out the city isn't making a decision on funding the position now, saying it's a goal which may never be achieved.

Councilmember Kathleen Allstot had some reservations about the position, pointing out an officer isn't going to be able to serve six buildings well, she said.

"I think the sharing of costs is quite a hurdle because schools don't have much money," she said. "We're often told at the schools that we're overstaffed, so if we're overstaffed and we can't be offering certain courses ... then where will the money come from."

The money for the officer would need to come from grants, and grants end, leaving the entities with trying to find the money for the program, Allstot said.

"I think the police department that we have and the fire department that we have do a really good job of integrating their people into the schools," she said.

The majority of the council didn't express reservations about position. Jacobson said the city should move ahead with negotiations with the school district.