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2.1 THRU 2.6. SR 05-14-2007 MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council School District FROM: Lori Johnson, City Administrator DATE: May 14, 2007 SUBJECT: Joint School Board City Council Agenda Items 2.1. Future School District Buildiug & Bond Referendum Plans The Council asked for an update from the school district on their future building and bond referendum plans. Superintendent Mark Bezek and school board members will discuss their future plans and the upcoming referendum. 2.2. Juvenile Liaison Program Funding As a result of conversations between city staff and interim superintendent Jim Berg, the district's formula for reimbursing cities and counties for liaison officers was changed last year to create more equity in the payment to these entities. The city now receives $25,000 per officer per year. It was our understanding during those discussions that the school district would be reviewing this issue in the future and presenting a proposal to the city. I assume that because there are many other issues that ate of higher priority for the school district, this item has not been addressed yet. A ttached is some information from Chief Jeff Beahen on the current liaison program. The police department will be requesting an additional liaison officer next year to accommodate a 34 percent increase in calls and growth in student population. Under the current funding formula, the city would receive $25,000 for the third liaison officer. The city's cost obviously far exceeds $25,000 per year per officer in order to cover officer pay and benefits, the vehicle, equipment, training, and other expenses. The district has funds designated for security and liaison services; we would like to have more of those funds used to offset the city's cost for providing liaison services. 2.3. School Administration Building School officials will give us an update on their plans for the school administration building. 2.4. Boundary Lines for New Schools This issue was brought up by Councilmember Motin when the School District was going through redistricting and children close to Twin Lakes Elementary were slated to go to school elsewhere. This is of particular concern when a developer has worked with the city to provide property for a neighborhood school. 2.5. Right Turn Lane on Southbound Jackson Avenue at School Street The city is considering improving Jackson Avenue to add a right turn lane from southbound Jackson onto westbound School Street and signal improvements to provide left turn arrows on all four legs of the intersection. The anticipated cost for this improvement is $297,000. The city council has not yet prioritized upcoming street projects, so the timing of this project has not been detemtined. The improvements do not require additional right of way from the school, but a control box needs to be relocared on school property. 2.6. Consider Future Joiut Communications Position The school district is considering filling a communications position and is wondering if the city has any interest in sharing that position. When Superintendent Bezek mentioned this, I indicated that thc city hadn't idcntificd a nccd for such a position; however, I would add it to the agenda to for further discussion to see if the Council was interested. S:\Conncil\Lori\2007\Joint meeting school board topics memo 05 14 2007.doc ITEM 2.2. Juvenile Liaison Program Funding - Attachment SCHOOL LIASION SUMMARY Elk River Police Department . We currently have two officers assigned to the school liaison program, Officers Eric Balabon and Darren McKernan. They work Monday through Friday, 8-4:00. They are supervised by Sgt. Bryan Vita. . Each officer is assigned an unmarked squad car, has an office here at the PD, and has other special equipment needed for the school assignment including a laptop with wireless connection and a wireless PDA for communication with the State computer. . Beside their normal duties, they teach Project Alert in both of our middle schools. . They also participate in truancy hearings, sit on the Truancy Intervention Program panel, participate in expulsion proceedings, teach drivers education and criminal law classes at the High School, and take part in student counseling sessions. They also sit on the bullying intervention program panel and other panels as requested by the County Attorney or the courts. . They cover all sporting events (football, hockey, some basketball, etc); attend all pep fests, dances and large school events (homecoming parade, homecoming, prom). . They work with Students Against Drunk Drivers and MADD to conduct public safety campaigns during peak accident times each school year. . They conduct all school lock down exercises as required by the State and prepare evaluation reports on same. . They enforce parking regulations at all of the schools. . They investigate (by statute) all incidents of violence, assault or bullying that occur on school busses. . They investigate all crimes or incidents that require police involvement at the schools. This involves the initial investigation ofthe incident, follow-up, and case assembly for charges, arrests or citations as needed. . They are currently responsible for Meadowvale Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Parker Elementary, St. Andrews, Salk Middle School, Vandenberg Middle School, Ivan Sand Alternative School and Elk River High School. This is a current student population of almost 6,000 students. . With the new school opening up, we will see another 600 students added to that student base, with increases of over 10% each year. . We do plan on adding another officer to the program next year to accommodate the growth and increased calls for service to these liaison officers. . There has been a 34% increase in calls handled by the liaison officers in the past two years. . Example-in the past 30 days, Officer Balabon was assigned the following 59 cases to handle: Bomb Threat-I, Suspicious Activity-5, Theft-9, Theft From Vehicle-3, Damage to Property-12, Assault-6, Forgery-I, Narcotics-I, Sexual Assault-Z, Runaways-2, Disorderly Conduct-4, Crimes Against Family-6, Fire-I, Harrassment-2, Juvenile Crimes-3, Misc-l. . During that same period, he responding to accidents, medical emergencies, vehicle lock -outs and other non-criminal calls as well as participated in the planning and implementation ofthe mock crash held in conjunction with public health. . We currently receive $50,000 a year from the district for both officers. . Adding the third officer will require additional expenses, vehicle, office, computer, etc.