03/04/1992 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e Nichols, 4J School District Superintendent; David Piercey, 4J School District Assistant Superintendent and member of the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC); and Bill DeForrest and Jim Hill from DPS. Mr. Whitlow described the Safe Schools Program as a proposal by the 4J School District administration and DPS which grew out of a series of security issues both on and off campus. He said the recommendation is a two-track program. One is the use of a full-time campus supervisor at each of the four high schools that would be the financial responsibility of the school board. The other track is the use of two uniformed police officers, whose cost is shared equally by the school district and the City. He noted the program is a short-term, immediate response to a problem rather than a comprehensive, long-range effort. Mr. Whitlow said he has made it clear that all the City is prepared to offer at this time is a program to run through the rest of the school year. He recalled that a closer working relationship with the school district is a specific policy element of the recently adopted DPS long-range plan. Mr. Whitlow also assured the council that he had reviewed its recently adopted policy with respect to the use of General Fund contingency dollars. He said today's presentation meets the requirement of providing the council with the description of a program and program need before a funding request appears in a supplemental budget. He said the supplemental budget will be forthcoming upon approval of the program. Ms. Moseley said she hoped to heighten for the council the district's sense of urgency. Over the course of this school year, there has been a marked increase in the number of students who choose violence as a way of dealing with conflict. She said the school board feels like it needs to act immedi- ately. Ms. Ehrman noted the lack of a parent component and wondered how parents are involved. Mr. Sorenson said parents playa great role in reporting incidents or potential incidents, while students are very reluctant to do so. In response to another question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Hill said that the plan calls for splitting up the two officers' shifts so that there is a daily police presence in all the schools. At Mr. Robinette's request Mr. Sorenson gave a description of the other changes that had occurred in the community that contributed to the problem. He said the problem arose two years ago and has accelerated very qUickly. Mr. Sorenson said there have always been weapons at school, but the differ- ence is how the weapons are used. Three years ago, weapons were mentioned in order to intimidate someone. Then, students began showing the weapons, and now, weapons are actually pointed at, or held up to others. He said the other significant change is the establishment of the standard that weapons are an acceptable way to resolve conflict. Mr. Sorenson said a contributing factor is a closer link to other urban areas such as Salem and Portland, enabling students to call in friends to assist them with conflicts in Eugene. MINUTES--Eugene City Council 11:30 a.m. March 4, 1992 Page 6