Okaloosa County BOCC — December 4, 2012 — SRO Agreement — reading text

AGREEMENT For SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER PROGRAM This Agreement, made and entered into effective the 16" day of July 2012, by and between The School Board of Okaloosa County, Florida, (hereinafter referred to as the “School Board”), and The Sheriff of Okaloosa County, (hereinafter referred to as the “Sheriff”). WITNESSETH: Whereas, the School Board and the Sheriff desire to continue the Okaloosa School Resource Officer Program by providing law enforcement and related services at Bruner Middle School, Davidson Middle School, Destin Middle School, Meigs Middle School, Pryor Middle School, Shoal River Middle School, Ruckel Middle School, Baker School, Choctawhatchee High School, Crestview High School, Laurel Hill School, Fort Walton Beach High School, Niceville High School, and South Okaloosa Academy Charter School. Now therefore, in consideration of the mutual promises and covenants herein contained, the School Board and the Sheriff hereby agree as follows: ARTICLE J Term of Agreement A School Resource Officer Program is hereby established at Bruner Middle School, Davidson Middle School, Destin Middle School, Meigs Middle School, Pryor Middle School, Shoal River Middle School, Rucke] Middle School, Baker School, Choctawhatchee High School, Crestview High School, Laurel Hill School, Fort Walton Beach High School, Niceville High School, and South Okaloosa Academy Charter School for a term beginning July 16, 2012, through July 15, 2013. ARTICLE It Responsibilities of the Sheriff The Sheriff through his department shall provide School Resource Officers (hereinafter collectively referred to as “SRO” whether one or more) under the following terms and conditions: A. SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER The Sheriff or his designee shall assign one (1) regularly employed law enforcement officer to each of the schools listed in Article I, except that schools not listed in Article I may request the assignment of an SRO and schools listed in Article | may request the assignment of an additional SRO, based upon school site-based funding of one-half of the 1 average cost of an SRO in the amount of $49,032.00 with the Sheriffs funding the remaining one-half of the cost. Any such SRO’s assigned shall perform their duties in accordance with the terms and conditions of this agreement. Additionally, the Okaloosa Academy, Inc. shall be in entitled to the same terms and conditions for additional SRO services as the School Board under this Agreement for as many officers as the Sheriff can assign and as they, the Okaloosa Academy, Inc., may choose to request and fund. SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER DUTIES 1. The SRO shall coordinate all of his/her activities with the principal and staff members at his/her school and will seek permission, advice and guidance prior to enacting any program within the school. 2. The SRO shall develop expertise in making group presentations on various subjects to students. Such subjects shall include a basic understanding of the laws, the role of the law enforcement officer, and the police mission. 3. The SRO shall encourage individual and small group discussions with students based upon material presented in class to further establish rapport with the students. 4, When requested by the principal, the SRO shall attend parent/faculty meetings to solicit support and understanding of the SRO program. The SRO shall, whenever possible, participate in and/or attend school functions. 3. The SRO and principal, together, will review after-school activities, including but not limited to football and basketball games, at the beginning of the school year and determine where the SRO will be best utilized. This will allow the SRO to review his/her calendar and determine whether he/she can be available for that activity, (refer to Article IV section C). 6. The SRO shall be available for conferences with students, parents, and faculty members in order to assist them with law enforcement or crime prevention problems. Confidential information obtained pursuant to Chapter 39, Florida Statutes, (proceedings relating to juveniles), shall not be disclosed except as provided by law or court order. 7. The SRO shall become familiar with all community agencies which offer assistance to youths and their families such as mental health clinics, drug treatment centers, etc. The SRO, acting as a resource person to the students, faculty, and staff of the school, shall make referrals to such agencies when necessary. 8. The SRO shall assist the principal in developing plans and strategies to prevent and/or minimize dangerous situations which may result from student unrest. 2 10. ll. 12, 13. 14. 15. 16. 17, 18. The SRO shall adhere to School Board Policy and Guidelines, Sheriff's Policy, and legal requirements with regard to interviews, should it become necessary to conduct formal police interviews with the students. The SRO shall take law enforcement action as required. As soon as practical, the SRO shall make the principal of the school aware of such action. At the principal’s request, the SRO shall take appropriate law enforcement action against intruders and unwanted guests who may appear at the school and related school functions to the extent that the SRO may do so under the authority of the law. Whenever practical, the SRO shall advise the principal before requesting additional law enforcement assistance on campus. The SRO shall maintain detailed and accurate records of the operation of the School Resource Officer Program and shall submit other reports of in instructional nature, as required by the principal or school staff. The SRO shall not act as a school disciplinarian, as disciplining students is the school’s responsibility. However, if the principal believes an incident is a violation of the faw, the principal may contact the SRO, and the SRO shall determine whether law enforcement action is appropriate, The SRO may be used to monitor activities deemed necessary by the school principal, such as the school parking lot. If there is a problem area, the SRO may assist the school until the problem is solved. The SRO should _not be assigned a duty station on a regular or daily basis, i.e, lunch duty, stationary hallway duty, etc. This is done for security reasons. The SRO shall, with the approval and the support of the School Board and his/her designated school’s administration, enact the student Crime Stoppers Program — an anonymous hotline program. In addition, the SRO shall enact an anonymous reporting program, if needed, truancy programs, bullying programs, and any other program addressing problem areas identified on that campus. The SRO may, with the approval of the school’s administration, enact a substance abuse, violence and education program where applicable. Each SRO shail make every effort to remain on his/her assigned campus during normal school operating hours. Exceptions are anticipated and will be addressed on an individual basis. The SRO will make contact with feeder schools as needed when contacted by a school principal without a site-based SRO. Feeder schoo! administrators shall contact the nearest police jurisdiction for emergencies. ; 3 In certain circumstances, the Sheriff or his designee may assign an SRO to other duties for a short period of time during the summer break. Every effort will be made to have an SRO on campus; but this will generally be the time for SRO mandatory retraining and scheduled leave time. The Sheriff retains the right to assign duties to the SRO’s assigned to Davidson, Destin and Meigs Middle Schools away from each campus in order to fulfill non-school related law enforcement services as he deems necessary. ARTICLE Ul Responsibilities of the School Board The School Board shall provide to the full-time SRO the following materials and facilities which are deemed necessary to the performance of the SRO duties: 1, An air-conditioned and properly lighted private office, which shall contain a telephone, which may be used for general business purposes. 2. A location for files and records, which can be properly locked and secured. 3. A desk with drawers, a chair, worktable, filing cabinet, and office supplies. 4. A computer with printer, along with access to the school district’s MIS system and Internet service. The Schoo! Board shall provide its share of the SRO Program funding as set forth under Article IV. The School Board, with the approval of the Sheriff or his designee, shall have the right to re-assign SRO schoolwork locations during summer months to school locations where services may be needed except that the Sheriff or his designee shall make all Summer duty stations assignments for the SRO’s assigned to Davidson, Destin and Meigs Middle Schools. ARTICLE IV Financing of the School Resource Officer Program The School Board of Okaloosa County, Florida, shall reimburse the Sheriff for a portion of expenses of the SRO program subject to maximum expenditure of $576,125.00. This amount will be considered the Okaloosa County School Board’s contribution to the SRO program. Work hours of the School Resource Officers are governed by the Fair Labor and Standards Act and ate therefore eligible for overtime compensation. Each SRO shall 4 work a regular duty schedule at his/her assigned school which is defined as one-hundred sixty (160) work hours every payroll period (28 day payroll period). The first eleven at hours of overtime work shall be compensated at straight time and all hours after that shall be compensated at time and a half. Each SRO shall be twelve (12) month employees of the Sheriff and shail be assigned for the entire term of this Agreement to the schools as set forth in Article 1 and may be utilized at other schools as deemed necessary. The expense of overtime compensation, above any compensation time accrued, for any duties performed beyond regular duty hours of the SRO shall be borne by the individual school where the SRO is assigned. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office will invoice the school for the appropriate amount. C. Each SRO assigned to a school will be allowed to accrue 140 hours compensation time which will be taken during the student holidays. All overtime hours associated with school activities must be approved in advance by the school principal. D. The costs associated with the basic training of the SRO shall be the responsibility of the Sheriff. E. Each SRO may attend any authorized training or conferences to include FASRO (Florida Association of School Resource Officers), This type of training will be attended during the summer months. Selection will be done by the Sheriff's Assistant Director of School Support. F, If the SRO is away from their campus working a school-related temporary assignment, a Temporary Duty Elsewhere (TDE) form will be submitted prior to an assignment, if the assignment will require the SRO to be away from campus for more than one (1) hour. The TDE form will be submitted at least three (3) working days prior to the assignment. The TDE form must be approved by the Assistant Director of School Support and/or the Director of Staff Support Services. ARTICLE V Employment Status of School Resource Officer The SRO shalt remain an employee of the Sheriff, and shall not be an employee of the School Board. The School Board and the Sheriff acknowledge that the SRO shall remain responsive to the chain-of-command of the Sheriff’s Office of Okaloosa County. ARTICLE VI Appointment of the School Resource Officer The Sheriff shall be responsible for recruiting, interviewing, and evaluating each SRO who will serve at the pleasure of the Sheriff or bis designee, and the Superintendent of Schools, respectively. ARTICLE Vil Dismissal of Schoo! Resource Officer; Replacement In the event that the principal of any school listed in Article | feels that the SRO assigned to his/her school is not effectively performing his or her duties and responsibilities, then that principal shall