School board approves SRO memorandum

The school board approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Siloam Springs School District concerning the School Resource Officer (SRO) Program, during a special meeting of the school board held Thursday.

For the 2021-2022 school year, the school will have five school resource officers serving at its campuses, according to Assistant Superintendent Shane Patrick. The SRO agreement is approved on an annual basis, according to a staff report prepared by Police Chief Allan Gilbert on July 27.

The five officers will be dispersed in the following manner: One SRO will cover Northside Elementary and Southside Elementary; an SRO will be stationed at Allen Elementary and the intermediate school; one SRO will be at the middle school; and two at the high school, Patrick said in a follow-up email.

One of the high school SROs will also cover Main Street Academy, Patrick said.

According to the memorandum, the total estimated cost to the district will be $167,951. The district will reimburse the city for one half of the annual salaries, payroll taxes and retirement for the officers involved in the SRO program, the memorandum states.

The district also agrees to compensate the city $4,000 per SRO position for vehicle maintenance and other officer equipment, the memorandum states.

During the special meeting, the school board approved the following action items:

• Approving five FTE positions for the 2021-2022 school year.

• Accepting the following resignations: Charis Washausen, Allen second grade; Aubrey Hodge, Southside third grade; Riley Ahern, middle school seventh grade language arts; Tyler Kupersmith, middle school eighth grade social studies, high school swim/dive coach and high school assistant girls soccer coach; Elizabeth Ashbaugh, high school speech pathologist; Crystal Smith, middle school career and technical education (CTE); Kaela Bascue, Southside third grade; Brittany Huffaker high school special education teacher.

• Hiring the following licensed staff for the 2021-2022 school year: Martin Keith, Allen first grade; Tesla Grogan, Allen second grade; Kirsten Reese, Allen second grade; Courtney Kruger, Allen second grade; Melody Butler, intermediate Dyslexia interventionist; Alexa Bostian, Southside fourth grade; Alyson Coffman, Southside third grade; Kelcie Madding, middle school social studies.