Dave Thomas: Supplanting cops with (cheaper) campus supervisors a good idea
The Bee seems to confuse a policeman’s job with that of a campus supervisor.
Campus supervisors’ duties do not include high-speed chases, traffic violations or burglary; they do not carry guns.
The Bee tells us current school resource officers “keep track of troubled students, interact with them, help with homework, shoot hoops and just talk to them.” Can we afford police officers to do these tasks?
The Bee says the four school cops cost taxpayers $113,000 each. The district plans to hire eight new supervisors at $46,375 each. The Bee thinks this is dumb. I think it is brilliant.
The police chief says he has a staffing problem. If so, I suggest the schools pay nine supervisors at the same cost as the four school cops.
The Bee is terrified campus supervisors will make mistakes. Then why do we have so many campus supervisors? The Bee worries about neighborhood problems and “crazed individuals.” If we really have a problem that requires police presence, we have a thing called 911 to take care of such problems.
Modesto City Schools plans to provide cars for the supervisors. Why? School district leaders should decide what problem they want to solve, then develop a plan that satisfies that need.
Dave Thomas, Modesto
This story was originally published January 15, 2015 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Dave Thomas: Supplanting cops with (cheaper) campus supervisors a good idea."