MPS school resource officers; board, city near judge's deadline
MPS, city debate paying for school resource officers, days before judge's deadline
It is likely MPS will miss a judge's deadline to bring in school resource officers.
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee is likely to miss a judge’s deadline to have school resource officers back in its schools.
Timeline of missed deadlines
The backstory:
Wisconsin state law required Milwaukee Public Schools bring on 25 school resource officers by January 2024.
That date passed with no school resource officers in place. Then, a whole year passed, and still none.
Then, at the end of January 2025, a judge ordered MPS follow the law by Monday, Feb. 17, or come back to court to explain why it hasn’t. The judge also added the city to the original case an MPS parent filed against the district.
Even if a deal was in place – and it’s not – the law requires the officers to go through a specific training program. State law says that Milwaukee school resource officers will have to complete the 40-hour course of the National Association of School Resource Officers.
MPS offer
What we know:
The sticking point was and still is: paying for the school resource officers. It’s a fight over how much the city pays and how much MPS pays – two pots of your tax money.
MPS board member Missy Zombor revealed the district’s latest proposal: to pay 33% of the salaries and benefits for 25 school resource officers during the school year.
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"We’ve been negotiating with the city. Right now we have an offer on the table with the city: 33% plus training. We’ve offered to go to mediation. And so that’s where it stands right now," Zombor said after a school board meeting. "So, now we’re waiting."
The estimated total cost for the 25 police officers for 176 days of school is approximately $1,591, 959, according to the Milwaukee Police Department, citing city budget office estimates. It is an approximation, depending on the individual salaries of the officers.
If MPS paid a third of the cost, that would be an estimated cost of $525,346 for the school district, and a cost of $1,066,612 for the city.
Zombor said the district's earlier offer was to pay 25%, then, it went to 30%; now it's offering to pay 33%.
"As part of the shared revenue-sales tax deal, the city was the recipient of more than $200 million. MPS was not a recipient of that money," she added.
City responds
The other side:
City spokesperson Jeff Fleming wasn’t happy private negotiations were shared publicly.
"At the most recent negotiating session, MPS agreed to maintain confidentiality about the status and terms each side had proposed. It is highly disappointing MPS has broken that promise. To correct a misstatement made last evening, the City of Milwaukee first recommended mediation, and MPS subsequently appeared open to that. The city continues to act in good faith, and it is our hope we can resolve any differences through the mutually agreed upon process. So, for the time being we will not comment further on what is taking place at the negotiating table," Fleming wrote to FOX6.
In response to Fleming, Zombor said she felt it was her responsibility to answer questions honestly and transparently when asked about the progress to bring in the officers.
Prior contracts
Dig deeper:
FOX6 tracked down Milwaukee's previous contracts for school resource officers.
The documents from 2009 and 2015 show an equal split of the costs: 50/50 for the city and school district just for the months the officers were working in the school program. The older deals also placed a cap on how much MPS would pay.
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Board meeting
What they're saying:
On the Milwaukee school board’s last agenda, Tuesday night, Feb. 11, was the possibility to go into closed session to talk with attorneys about implementing the SRO requirement.
When asked afterward if there was an update about implementing the requirement, MPS Board President Marva Herndon replied: "Not at this time."
When asked if SROs were discussed, she replied, "We did." It was then that Zombor gave the answers above.
Gov. Tony Evers signed the law, negotiated by Republicans and city leaders, that required MPS bring in school resource officers.
He reacted to the MPS proposal on Wednesday, Feb. 12, when asked by FOX6: "MPS has been working diligently in recent weeks to make progress on this issue, and I’m glad to see this good-faith effort to try and reach consensus. Let's get this done."
The Source: The information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.