Benicia students could have extra police protection starting next fall.
Currently, Benicia's two school resource officers work four days a week and are funded exclusively by the police department. This week the Benicia Unified School District will explore splitting the cost with the police department to increase those officers' schedules to five days a week.
The officers' current schedule "leaves each campus vulnerable and without an on-site SRO one day per week or collectively, two days per week," Benicia Police Chief Andrew Bidou wrote in a letter to Superintendent Janice Adams. "This equates to approximately 80 missed school days per year."
Bidou argues that because the city has spent more than $4 million funding the school resource officers since the program began in 1993 and because the district will soon receive increased funding because of the passage of Proposition 30, the two agencies should split the cost of increasing the school cops' hours.
Adding a day to the school resource officers' schedules would cost the school district $150,000 per fiscal year.
The school board will discuss the issue Thursday, and district staff are recommending the board approves the expenditure.
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Benicia Unified School District Board of Education meeting
7 p.m. Thursday, March 7
350 East K Street
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