Schaumburg cops might suspend school programs

Financial concerns already caused the Schaumburg Police Department to cut back on several educational programs in late 2008.

With budget pressures continuing, the department is now considering the suspension of a couple more programs at the end of the school year.

In question are the fates of the junior high resource officer and elementary school Officer Friendly program in Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54.

The department will continue to provide a resource officer for Schaumburg High School next school year.

That's because Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 funds 75 percent of the cost of its school resource officer. But District 54 funds only 50 percent of its officer, Schaumburg Police Chief Brian Howerton said.

Hoping to preserve the program, the police department is asking District 54 whether it too would pay 75 percent of its officer's cost, Howerton said.

He added the village can't continue to pay half the cost of an officer who works primarily at the school district nine months of the year.

This comes after earlier cuts. Until last year, the police provided an officer each to Addams, Frost and Keller junior highs. Now only one officer rotates among the three.

At the end of last year, the department also suspended the DARE program and the Citizens Police Academy.

As village revenues drop, Howerton said the department must focus more exclusively on core services of investigations, forensics, patrols and traffic enforcement.

Because of budgetary concerns, the department currently has nine officer positions that are vacant. Reassigning the resource officer and Officer Friendly would help provide more manpower for core services.

The department is already down nine officers, and the return of the resource officer and Officer Friendly to regular duty would partly offset this deficit, Howerton said.

District 54 Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Support Debbie Ancona said she has yet to hear anything about a revised proposal from the police department but is scheduled for a regular meeting with Howerton in April.

She said a strong bond exists between the school district and police and fire departments, which she expects will continue whatever the fate of the school programs.

Howerton agreed, emphasizing the schools would be no less safe without the programs.

Of the other two District 54 junior highs outside of Schaumburg, Mead has already ceased having a resource officer from the Elk Grove Village police, while the Hoffman Estates Police Department still provides one for Eisenhower.

In Schaumburg, neither the district nor the police department believes it receives a full 50 percent of the resource officer's time each year.

Though the resource officer is assigned to the junior highs for nine months of the year, Ancona said court duty and administrative tasks cut into the amount of time the officer spends on school duty.