Wahluke School District SRO contract to be updated

MATTAWA — The SRO (school resource officer) contract between the City of Mattawa and Wahluke School District is being modified to reflect changes that have occurred because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In November 2019, the Wahluke School District and the City of Mattawa entered into a contract in which the Mattawa Police Department would provide one SRO for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year and two SROs for the 2020-2021 school year. Because of COVID-19, the training required for the second SRO has not happened as originally planned. In spite of these setbacks, the police department and school district have worked together to come up with arrangements that were satisfactory to both parties.

Mattawa Mayor Maggie Celaya asked the contract be updated to reflect these arrangements, so the two entities are working with lawyers on the modifications.

“Either we amend the contract and go down to one SRO or we amend it to when the second SRO comes on and get our money back,” Wahluke School District Interim Superintendent Andy Harlow told the Mattawa City Council in a special virtual meeting on Monday, Jan. 11. “We are excited that Chief (Mattawa Police Chief Joe Harris) can have a SRO on campus. We’re talking mid-February to have the second officer on campus. I feel like we’re in a good position in the district. We want to be flexible and work with the city on the SRO.”

The next evening at a virtual Wahluke School Board meeting, Harlow said he thought Celaya was looking out for the city interests down the road.

“I think Mayor Celaya is looking at this so down the line the district doesn’t come back and say that we didn’t get what we paid for,” Harlow said. “I think at the end of the day, we don’t have any liability. Either we get our money back or we extend the contract. I feel like we are in a really good spot.”