HOPE — Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. and the Bartholomew County Sheriff Department say there will be a school resource officer in the school corporation next school year.
“Parents and students in the Hope area don’t need to worry,” Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers said. “We’re going to work it out.”
“I’m confident we are going to have an SRO in our buildings all of next year,” Flat Rock-Hawcreek superintendent Shawn Price said.
County officials had discussed during a work session that the county might not have sufficient funds to pay the county’s portion of Flat Rock-Hawcreek school resource officer Jessica Pendleton’s salary. Pendleton is a Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputy who works as a school resource officer for Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp., through a memo of understanding between the county and the school corporation.
While the sheriff said he understands today’s tumultuous economic times is leaving many on edge, Myers said it is still premature to engage in speculation regarding possible budget cuts until his entire proposed 2021 budget is submitted and reviewed in the upcoming weeks by the county.
School districts only pay for the approximately 190-days that an school resource officer is on their campuses. On non-school days, when the officer is assigned conventional law enforcement duties, and their salary and benefits are paid by the county, Myers said.
So if Pendleton was no longer performing her school resource officer duties nor receiving much of her compensation from the Flat Rock-Hawcreek schools, county taxpayers would end up paying substantially more to maintain Pendleton as a full-time merit deputy, Myers said.
In late 2018, Flat Rock-Hawcreek officials agreed to pay Pendleton $45,000 annually to be a full-time school resource officer in 2019 – an amount substantially less than the $61,530 the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. was paying for each of their school resource officers.
In order to help the Hope area schools, the Bartholomew County Council agreed to pay the balance of Pendleton’s salary and benefits. But their offer was for one year only, with the understanding that Flat Rock-Hawcreek officials would explore ways to fully fund the position.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
