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Kaneland board pushing for return of deputy to school

Kaneland High School students' safety will be the victim of politics if Kane County doesn't assign a full-time deputy to the campus this fall as a school resource officer, according to the school board.

"We feel our students are being used as pawns in a political power play for funding," board President Teresa Graue Witt said. The board discussed the situation Monday.

That power play is in a game between Sheriff Don Kramer and county board Chairman Chris Lauzen, Witt said, over funding for the sheriff's office. The play started when Kramer canceled a contract to house federal prisoners at the jail, without first consulting Lauzen or the county board, Witt said.

Kramer said Tuesday evening dropping the school resource officers is about staffing.

"I have to get more officers," Kramer said. "The priority is you have to answer 911 calls first."

On July 14, Kramer announced he was pulling the school resource officers from Kaneland, which is near Maple Park, and from Burlington Central High School.

He told county board members his department has 18 vacancies, civilian and sworn, and not enough money to fill them. The resource officers are reassigned to patrol.

The sheriff's office was budgeted for 86 sworn officers in 2015. Kramer said he has an oral agreement with Lauzen that he could go up to 88 if Kramer could pay for it out of his own budget. The sheriff's office is authorized by ordinance to have up to 90 sworn officers.

He's requested two more deputies in his 2017 budget, which would put him at that 90. There are now 84 sworn officers, including Kramer, and two are leaving Aug. 1, according to Lt. Patrick Gengler, administration director.

Lauzen pointed out Tuesday at a county board meeting that spending for the sheriff's office has gone from $21 million in 2014 to a requested $25.2 million in 2017.

Kramer is asking for $1.2 million more in his 2017 budget than in 2016, even as the county board is trying to trim a projected $5.7 million deficit and keep its property tax levy flat.

Student safety

Witt said Kaneland has had an officer in the school at least 17 years, and the district paid half the cost of the officer. Kramer said the schools fund three-quarters of the pay.

The district looked into hiring a police officer from a nearby town, but Kramer rejected that because of the issue of jurisdiction, Witt said. An officer from another department wouldn't have authority to take some actions, such as investigations and arrests.

The board is worried about the response time of deputies if an emergency happens at the school, Witt said. Kramer has said it could take up to 25 minutes to get a deputy to Kaneland or Central.

Witt said students have a rapport with the sheriff's deputy assigned to the school. "It's not just discipline," she said.

If the district decides to hire private security, it likely would not be in place before the start of school Aug. 24. Because the contract probably would cost more than $25,000 a year, the district would have to seek bids, a process that could take several months, Witt said.

"The clock is pretty well ticking," said Witt, adding school officials plan to plead their case at the Aug. 9 county board meeting.

Share officer?

Kramer said Tuesday he has told Central and Kaneland officials he hopes to fully restore the officers after the schools' winter break. Until then, he's offered them one officer they would have to share.

"I would love to have them in there from day one, but that will probably not happen," he said. "This isn't about funding. It's about numbers of people."

Witt said that's not enough.

"We just don't believe part-time will provide for the safety and security needs of the district," she said.

• Daily Herald staff writer James Fuller contributed to this story.

Kane County sheriff draws budget line with school resource officers

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