In the middle of the fourth week of classes at Waukegan High School, the familiar presence of school resource officers (SROs) from the Waukegan Police Department remains absent due to a $40,000 impasse in contract negotiations.
Initially asking Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 to pay $350,000 for the presence of one SRO at the high school’s Washington campus and another at the Brookside building, Mayor Ann Taylor dropped the request to $260,000 last week.
District 60 Superintendent Theresa Plascencia initially suggested paying $150,000, but upped the amount to $220,000 early last week.
Both sides said it was their final offer and neither has budged.
When Plascencia said during the District 60 Board of Education meeting on Aug. 27 that $220,000 was her final offer, Waukegan Ald. Keith Turner, 6th Ward, was listening to the discussions. She said after the meeting she hoped the council would lower the price.
Turner said he had no comment at the board meeting. But, he did make an effort to have the City Council vote on a proposed intergovernmental agreement for $220,000 at the legislative body’s next meeting Tuesday. Taylor said she was firm at $260,000.
“I can’t go any lower,” Taylor said at the council meeting. “If the aldermen want to override that (they can), but it’s my job to be the steward of the taxpayers’ money.
The City Council ultimately voted 8-1 to approve an intergovernmental agreement between the city and school district with a $260,000 price tag, a move Taylor called a “fair and equitable” compromise.
However, Plascencia rejected the proposal on Wednesday.
Taylor initially said she would not put the issue on the council’s agenda until there was an agreement, Stewart Weiss, an attorney for corporation counsel Elrod Friedman, said during a meeting of the council’s Government Operations & Oversight Committee there was a desire to take a position.
Despite the council vote, Plascencia said the district has not agreed to pay $260,000, and the contract went to the council without agreement from both sides. She hopes the city and district will continue to collaborate to reach an agreement.
“We have communicated to the city that our maximum offer for two officers is $220,000, and our board has denied their offer of $260,000 previously,” Plascencia said. “This amount of $220,000 is approximately $100,000 more than what we paid for SRO services last year, and $70,000 above our initial offer. As of now, this remains our official offer.”
Taylor said during the council meeting the cost of salaries, health insurance and pension for two officers is approximately $295,000. She added that she considers $260,000 a “fair and equitable” compromise.
During the committee meeting, Turner said it was imperative to solve the disagreement and get the SROs back in the schools for the “safety of the students and staff.” He cast the lone vote against the $260,000 proposal.
“It seems like we’re in a quagmire,” Turner said. “It is my opinion we accept the $220,000 offer from the school district (and) get these resource officers back on the job. Next year, we can play hardball.”
Ald. Edith Newsome, 5th Ward, said the $260,000 price was a fair compromise. Just as Ald. Jose A. Guzman, 2nd Ward, and Ald. Victor Felix, 4th Ward, said they had sons in the schools, Newsome said her grandchildren are studying there.
“Safety is foremost,” Newsome said. “The city is not getting exactly what they want, and the school district is not getting exactly what they want. This is a good compromise.”