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08/04/2015 03:30 PMCiting a $45,000 budget reduction in the Department of Police Services budget, Police Chief Michael Spera by memo asked the Board of Education (BOE) for a $7,168 payment to cover the cost of school traffic control by community service officers. By unanimous vote, however, the BOE decided to deny the July 13 request after discussion at its July 23 meeting.
The vote was held after members of the board spent time discussing the services the Police Department provides in support of the schools and those the schools provide to the department.
The meeting opened with a comment from Chairman Mario Gaboury that he had discussed the payment request with Spera before the board meeting. In that call—and confirmed by the chief in an earlier meeting between the chief and Superintendent of Schools Jan Perruccio—Spera had pulled back his funding request.
In addition, Spera confirmed to Gaboury and Perruccio before the meeting that for now, he would continue to provide community service officers for traffic control duties, whether or not the BOE paid the $7,168 he had requested.
“If we are not to have police services, there are less expensive ways to do the service,” said Gaboury.
When he raised this option with the chief, Spera warned Gaboury about shifting liability for accidents that might happen in the parking lot to school staff.
With assurances from the chief, however, it appears that the individuals assigned to assist with traffic control last year will remain in place for this school year.
“The chief said he would leave the individuals doing that job,” Gaboury said. “We need to make it clear that we don’t expect to be charged for police services.”
Routine services of police officers assigned to direct traffic on the street at Sheffield and Main Street and on the Old Boston Post Road outside of Goodwin School were not covered by this proposed charge. The requested payment was only to offset the cost to provide community service officers to provide traffic control support at the middle school parking lot and of the high school traffic light at school dismissal.
Spera, when asked to comment on the issue before the BOE, said, “The department’s focus remains the safety of our community, which includes the safety of our children. I look forward to working with the Superintendent and members of the Board of Education to maintain important safety services that parents and children have come to expect for the beginning of the academic year. The department values our commitment to Old Saybrook’s youth and our positive working relationship with the Public School District.”
The school district’s Safety Committee several years ago had recommended traffic control officers be added at the middle school parking lot. The school bus company had asked for an officer to control the traffic light at the high school at dismissal.
When asked about other requested payments, Director of Operations Julie Pendleton confirmed that she also had received an unexpected invoice from the Police Department for $2,000 to pay for police services provided at the high school’s June graduation. She said that it was the first time she recalls the school district ever being charged for police services for graduation.
“Normally we would issue a purchase order or requisition or contract to buy a service,” said Pendleton, who also noted that did not happen for police services at graduation. Yet the district received an invoice anyway.
“In the past, the Police Department has used school facilities for training, used the kitchen—there’s been no charge [from the school district] for that,” said BOE member Vito Savino. “If there are any services needed [by the schools] that require police intervention, it is in the Police Department budget. Because his budget was cut, he’s shaking us down for money.”
It was then that Savino moved to deny Spera’s request for $7,168 to help pay the cost of community services officers assigned to assist with traffic control. The motion passed unanimously.
Gaboury also asked Perruccio and Pendleton to look into the traffic control issue at town schools and find out how other school districts handle traffic issues at their schools.
Value of In-Kind Services
Every year the Department of Police Services calculates the value of in-kind services that it provides to the public school district because the State of Connecticut Department of Education requires school districts to report this number.
Spera recently reported the value of these services to Finance Director Lisa Carver for the 2013-2014 budget year: for 3 ½ hours/day for one community service officer for 185 service periods: $10,003.88; for 1 ½ hours/day for a second community service officer for 185 periods: $4,287.38; and for services one hour per day for 185 periods for sworn, certified police officers: $5,755.35.