Chandler school board again OKs school resource contract

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

One of the few formal actions the Chandler Unified Governing Board took at its Sept. 9 meeting was to approved a school resource officer contract.

The action was passed by a 4-1 vote — with the same board member dissenting who’d voted against a similar contract last month.

Board President Patti Serrano was the lone “no” vote when the board approved a one-year intergovernmental agreement with the Gilbert Police Department for resource officers this school year at Payne Junior High and Perry High School.

Serrano said even though the annual School Safety Program Grant is expected to pick up an estimated 100% of the $295,000 cost and Gilbert Police would fully cover any overtime salary, officer raises or other cost variables make it the type of contract she can no longer support.

“With all the cuts we’ve had to make, that is just a really tough approval for me,” Serrano said at the meeting. “We see that the grant amount is an estimate.”

Serrano was also the lone “no” vote when the board approved a one-year contract with the city of Chandler Aug. 19 for school resource officers at the nine CUSD middle and high schools within the city, 4-1.

Assistant Superintendent Mike De La Torre explained that in the Chandler contract, the district and the city would split the cost of overtime for SROs or any part of the $1.633 million cost not covered by the grant, but Serrano wasn’t convinced.

Jason W. Brooks can be reached at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

INDEPENDENT NEWSMEDIA

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.