The Carroll Community School District (CCSD) Board of Education has approved of a 28E Agreement with the City of Carroll for a student resource officer (SRO) to begin this upcoming 2025-26 school year. Superintendent Dr. Casey Berlau says an SRO has been discussed for quite some time now, but the resources were not available to make it happen until recently. Per the agreement, the officer would be employed through the city, with the district paying 70 percent of the salary, which Berlau says will be funded the first year through grants and dropout-prevention funding. Berlau says the officer will be at the school Monday through Friday while school is in session.
When school is not in session, the SRO will be placed with the Carroll Police Department. Carroll Police Chief Brad Burke says his goal is to have whoever is hired to be fully certified as an SRO by August, in time for open houses for the district to get them introduced to the students, parents and staff.
The SRO will be fully uniformed like the patrol officers on the department. Insurance for the school will not increase however, due to the training that the officer completes to be certified to work in the district in that capacity. Berlau wants to make it aware to community members that there is no behaviors being displayed by students that is causing the district to enter in this agreement.
Berlau says another benefit to the SRO is because of the sharing agreement, the district will receive operational function sharing, which is a funding incentive through the state. Currently, CCSD will receive around $16,000 per year as it is equivalent to the cost per pupil for two students. The 28E agreement will now be reviewed by the Carroll City Council at the upcoming Monday meeting, and if approved, the hiring committee will begin the process of selecting the officer to serve in the role of the SRO.
