Schaumburg Christian School may join village's public schools in having a resource officer

Schaumburg Christian School likely will be the first private school in Schaumburg to have a school resource officer provided by the police department similar to public schools in town.

The village's public safety committee recommended approval of the request Thursday and the village board will consider it on Aug. 22.

If approved, the department expects to be able to provide that officer by late September, Schaumburg Police Chief Bill Wolf said.

Trustee Jamie Clar, who chairs the committee, said he and fellow members learned the financial model and job responsibilities would mirror those of the SROs assigned to Schaumburg High School and the three public junior high schools in the village.

"It is the first private school in Schaumburg to ask," Clar said. "They're asking for this as a precaution."

Wolf explained the assigned officer also would be expected to be a known adult to students at the school as well as a source of protection.

The K-12 private school has a broader age range of students than any public school in the village, Wolf said.

"Similar to the other SROs, we want someone who is easy to talk to and has good people skills," he added.

An experienced officer would be assigned to the job, once a 119th sworn officer has been added to the department's ranks.

For the coming year, Schaumburg Christian School will pay the village $131,438 - 75% of the combined salary and benefits of $175,250 for an officer.

During the summer, the SRO would be assigned to the patrol or investigations divisions depending on current needs, and helping reduce overtime costs while other officers are using vacation time.

No similar requests have been made by other private schools, Wolf said.