Rochester schools weigh adding more police

ROCHESTER – New schools and increasing workloads are prompting Rochester Public Schools to consider adding more police, but some school board members are reluctant to sign off.

District officials want to add a sixth school resource officer (SRO) to help cover Rochester's three high schools, four middle schools, a special education building and an alternative learning center — even as Rochester reviews the role SROs play in student learning.

The new SRO contract would cost the district $30,000 through June, with some funding set aside to pay for an additional officer for at least one more year. The board is set to decide at its Jan. 17 meeting.

Adding another officer gives some school board members pause, however.

"Have we gotten to the point where all of the … things we've put in place are maxed out and the SRO is the thing that we need, or are there other things that we could be doing that don't require additional law enforcement presence in the school?" Board member Jessica Garcia said Tuesday during a public meeting.

Rochester, like other districts across Minnesota, has struggled in recent years over police in schools. Proponents say school resource officers help make schools safer while critics say a police presence escalates behavioral and racial issues in the classroom.

Rochester's board updated and approved the district's SRO contract in June, which fleshes out some boundaries between SROs and district officials when it comes to student discipline. The district has been studying SRO contact in schools as part of its ongoing strategic plan.

Though board members signed off on five officers last summer, district officials say the officer in charge of Century High School has been too busy to fulfill other obligations at nearby Kellogg and Dakota middle schools, including home visits for students in distress or taking students to emergency rooms if they require help.

"There have been several instances this year in which we didn't have an SRO in the building when that happened," Superintendent Kent Pekel said. "So we handle it and they go across town, but when they're there, those services are much more seamlessly provided."

Rochester officials initially thought an SRO could cover Century, Kellogg and Dakota, which opened last fall. Yet district officials say Century High School has felt busier than average this school year, though they lacked data to compare numbers to previous years.

Some board members questioned why they shouldn't instead approve funding for more social workers or other student support.

"Maybe what we're seeing an increase of is not necessarily an SRO issue," Board member Don Barlow said.

Pekel urged the board to wait to discuss adding support staff during budget talks while the district studies the issue as part of its ongoing strategic plan.