The Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) is offering state funds through the School Resource Officer and School Security Officer Incentive Grant Program to establish new School Resource Officer (SRO) positions in local law enforcement agencies and new School Security Officer (SSO) positions in local school divisions. The grant program is focused on funding SRO/SSO positions where none currently exist within a high, middle, or elementary school. A Sheriff’s Office or School Division may manage the SRO/SSO program but the grant application must be submitted by and the funds awarded to a unit of local government.
The grant does require a minimum local cash match as identified in the 2016-2018 Composite Index of Local Ability-to-Pay. Spotsylvania County’s rate is 36.17%. Grant funds can only be used to pay for salary and benefits for SRO/SSO positions. The total amount requested for a new SRO program may not exceed $50,000 per SRO position including the required local cash match. Any costs associated with the implementation of the SRO/SSO program above the grant award must be borne by the County, Sheriff’s Office, and/or the Schools. The SRO/SSO position must be assigned to one secondary or elementary school and cannot rotate to other schools. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis for one year beginning July 1, 2017 and ending June 30, 2018. Successful SRO/SSO programs can request annual continuation funding in ensuing years for a maximum of four years of grant funding. Approval of one grant does not guarantee funding awards in subsequent years. Positions approved for continuation funding will be based on the Composite Index of Local Ability-to-Pay. Grant funds cannot be used to supplant local funds.
The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office would like to request a new SRO position for TBD Elementary School. The decision to select TBD Elementary School was made in consultation with the School Superintendent, the Director of School Safety, and the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.
If approved, the Sheriff’s Office would request $31,915 in grant funds for the first year. The required local match would be $18,085; however, it is estimated that an additional $21,290 of local funding will be needed to cover the additional costs associated with personnel, mandatory DCJS SRO training, equipment, and supplies for the requested position. Therefore the total local portion for the SRO is estimated to be $39,375. If the grant application is awarded for FY18, the Sheriff’s Office proposes to utilize $4,901 from their asset forfeiture funds to purchase some of the operating supplies. Furthermore, the Sheriff’s Office anticipates that they will be able to absorb the additional $34,474 from their FY18 budget for the additional personnel and operating costs not covered by the grant. For FY19 through FY21, the Sheriff’s Office would include the anticipated costs in their annual budget requests.
The anticipated cost and funding sources for the position for the first year are as follows:
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First Year Costs
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Grant Funding
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Local Funding
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Total Costs
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Personnel
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$31,915 - From the DCJS SRO Grant Opportunity if awarded
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$31,047 - Absorbed from the FY18 Sheriff’s Office Budget
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$62,962
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Operating Costs
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$3,427 - Absorbed from the FY 18 Sheriff’s Office Budget
$4,901 - From the Sheriff’s Asset Forfeiture Funds
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$8,328
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Vehicle
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$0 - A surplus vehicle will be used for this SRO position
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$0
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Total
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$31,915
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$39,375
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$71,290
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DCJS has not yet released the guidance document for the FY 2018 SRO Grant Program. However, DCJS has stated that the guidance document should be released shortly and that applications are tentatively scheduled to be due on May 5, 2017. DCJS has stated that they do not anticipate any significant changes from the FY 2017 guidance. All calculations are currently based off of the County’s FY 2018 rates applied to DCJS’ FY 2017 guidance document. |