Keep Officers in Schaumburg Schools
March 23rd, 2009 | by Brian Costin Published in Blog, Education, Public Safety | 1 Comment
This recent Letter to the Editor caught my attention in the Daily Herald about the School Resource Office program in our local Junior High Schools (Addams, Keller & Frost).
The violence in our Schaumburg junior highs has increased over this school year. I’m upset to hear that the Village of Schaumburg is considering ending its School Resource Office program in the three junior highs (Addams, Keller & Frost).
These are the formative years and I would think that the village is interested in providing the best environment and help to students. I am a concerned parent and question why it is that Hoffman Estates is able to maintain their SRO but Schaumburg is considering the elimination of our SRO program.
The Village Board really needs to take a hard look on where to make cuts and where to spend money. The SRO program needs to stay. Safety should remain the priority.
Julie A. Schreiner
Schaumburg
It should be noted the Village has budgeted $6,885,838 in 2009 for the Schaumburg Renaissance Convention Center & Hotel. The Village of Schaumburg, at a generous $100,000 in salary & benefits, could hire 60+ additional police officers and more than continue the School Resource Office at Addams, Keller & Frost for the cost of corporate welfare at the Schaumburg Convention Center & Hotel.
The Village Board and Mayor Larson made the conscious choice to engage in corporate welfare for the Renaissance Corporation rather than continue common sense public safety programs in our schools.
After spending tens of millions of dollars on the Convention Center & Hotel and Now the Village doesn’t even have enough to pay for the relatively small budget School Resource Office anymore.
As a side note Mayor Larson and the Village board said that the Convention Center & Hotel would be an economic engine for the area and would help the local retail industry. Not surprisingly this prediction has turned out to be false. Retail sales have dropped significantly in Schaumburg since the completion of the Convention Center & Hotel.
Could this be due to the Village raising the local portion of the sales tax, the food & beverage tax, and the amusement tax, and telecommunications tax to pay for their posh Convention Center & Hotel? I think so.
The Village Board and Mayor Al Larson need to get their priorities straight. Thanks to Ms. Schreiner for pointing this out.
Note: The DARE program that has been scientifically proven to be ineffective at reducing drug use, and sometimes part of a School Resource Officer’s duties, should be eliminated and those resources should go into other more effective public safety programs in our schools.
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May 18th, 2009 at 7:52 AM (#)
[...] has pointed out the Village has cut 9 officer positions. It has also ended dramatically scaled back the School Resource Officer program, despite the fact that the Village budget has grown over [...]