MPS school resource officers; board, city near agreement deadline
Milwaukee Public Schools and the City of Milwaukee have a court deadline to place 25 school resource officers in schools by Monday.
MPS made an offer to pay 33% of the costs for officers, as well as for training them, with the city paying the rest.
It's a fight over how much the city pays and how much MPS pays – two pots of your tax money.
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee is likely to miss a judge's deadline to have school resource officers back in its schools.
The backstory
Wisconsin state law required Milwaukee Public Schools to bring on 25 school resource officers by January 2024.
That date passed, and no police. Then, a whole year passed, and still none.
Then, at the end of January 2025, a judge ordered MPS to follow the law, which is to bring back 25 school resource officers by Monday, Feb. 17, or come back to court to explain why it hasn't.
What we know
The sticking point was and still is: paying for the school resource officers. It's a fight over how much the city pays and how much MPS pays – two pots of your tax money.
MPS board member Missy Zombor revealed the district's proposal: to pay 33% of the salaries and benefits for 25 school resource officers during the school year.
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"We've been negotiating with the city. Right now we have an offer on the table with the city: 33% plus training. We've offered to go to mediation. And so that's where it stands right now," Zombor said. "So, now we're waiting."
Zombor said the district's early offer was to pay 25%, then, it went to 30%, and now it's offering to pay 33%.
The other side
City spokesperson Jeff Fleming wasn't happy private negotiations were shared publicly, sharing the following:
"At the most recent negotiating session, MPS agreed to maintain confidentiality about the status and terms each side had proposed. It is highly disappointing MPS has broken that promise. To correct a misstatement made last evening, the City of Milwaukee first recommended mediation, and MPS subsequently appeared open to that. The city continues to act in good faith, and it is our hope we can resolve any differences through the mutually agreed upon process. So, for the time being we will not comment further on what is taking place at the negotiating table."
In response, Zombor Zombor said she felt it was her responsibility to answer questions honestly and transparently.
Dig deeper
FOX6 tracked down previous contracts for school resource officers.
The documents from 2009 and 2015 show an equal split of the costs: 50/50 for the city and school district just for the months the officers were working in the school program. The older deals also placed a cap on how much MPS would pay.
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Even if a deal was in place – and it's not – the law requires the officers to go through a specific 40-hour training program. State law says that Milwaukee officers will have to complete the 40-hour course of the National Association of School Resource Officers.
What they're saying
On the Milwaukee school board's agenda Tuesday night, Feb. 11, was the possibility to go into closed session to talk with attorneys about implementing the SRO requirement.
When asked about implementing the requirement, MPS Board President Marva Herndon replied with the following: "Not at this time." When asked if SROs were discussed, she replied, "We did."
Gov. Tony Evers said the following in a statement on Wednesday, Feb. 12:
"MPS has been working diligently in recent weeks to make progress on this issue, and I'm glad to see this good-faith effort to try and reach consensus [...] Let's get this done."
The Source
The information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.
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