ONTARIO — A week after administrators at Ontario Local Schools warned of potential cuts, Ontario City Council voted to fund the position of school resource officer if the district’s levy fails next month.
Currently, the city of Ontario covers the cost upfront but invoices two-thirds of the expense to the school district. The SRO works for the school district nine months and works the remaining three for the Ontario Police Department.
The ordinance states the city will fund the position “in the event the Ontario Local School district’s levy does not pass or no money from the state is received” and will continue to fund the position until either a levy is passed or the district receives funding from the state to pay for a school resource officer.
City council president James Hellinger said council felt the ordinance was important to ensure students’ safety, especially if an active shooter incident were to take place.
“We feel it’s such an important position for the safety of the students that we will not let the school go without a resource officer,” he said. “We want the public to know that we’re going to cover that.”
“I feel that our SRO is a big asset for our school environment,” said Randy Hutchinson, mayor of Ontario. “The safety of our children is our number one priority.”
If passed, the 6.9 mill, 5-year operating levy would cost residents $20 per month per $100,000 of home market value for the first two years. That overall cost would drop to $7 per month during the remaining three years, since the district will no longer be collecting taxes from a separate bond issue beginning in 2022.
“I am very pleased to hear that Ontario City Council passed an ordinance last evening, which will ensure that our School Resource Officer remains at our schools,” said Lisa Carmichael, superintendent of Ontario Local Schools. “We’re extremely blessed to have such an extraordinary relationship with the Ontario Police Department. Knowing that our School Resource Officer will remain here at our schools will sure ease the minds of our administration, staff, parents and students.”
