The Silver Lake-Salem Jt. 1 School District (Riverview School) board took a formal step toward implementing a school resource officer Tuesday.
The board at its regular meeting Tuesday unanimously approved a budget amendment that would fund its portion of the position for 2026.
The move will be up for another vote at the district annual meeting, where district residents that are legal voters can vote on budget and other matters.
A school resource officer is a law enforcement officer that works within the school full-time. The officer can handle security issues as well as serves as a mentor and resource.
The officer at Riverview would be a Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
About 20 people attended the meeting Tuesday. About 10 spoke on the topic or asked questions, with most of those supporting the measure. During board discussion, board President Brain Hopkins asked for a show of hands from audience members on the issue and only two raised their hands as opposed.
Under a plan outlined by district and village officials the SRO will be paid for by the district for nine months and by the village for three months, when school is not in session and the deputy would be available for additional dedicated patrol of the village.
Considering an SRO was not in reaction to something that has happened at the school, but more about being prepared for what could happen as well as building positive relationships with law enforcement, said district administrator Kimberly Taylor.
“”We’re really looking at this as a proactive measure, rather than a reactive measure,” Taylor said.
SROs have long been stationed at the two Western Kenosha County high schools, but are a new development at the feeder grade school districts.
Board discussion among the Riverview board started when Randall School implemented an SRO with the Twin Lakes Police Department, where that school is located. Then Salem Lakes Trustee Bill Hopkins (a former Riverview School board member and the father of the current board president) started talking with Riverview, and Salem School and Trevor-Wilmot School about partnering to place SROs in those three schools.
“I want to see an SRO in every single school,” Bill Hopkins said Tuesday.
The district estimates the tax impact of the SRO and the referendum passed in April to be $159 per year on a $300,000 valued property, Taylor said. That’s less than earlier estimates said the tax impact would be for the referendum alone.
The SROs will wear their uniforms while at the school, district officials said. They will not be involved in student discipline that is ordinarily handled by school staff.
What they will be doing is building relationships with students, as well as providing rapid response in emergencies.
“There’s so much we do, there are so many kids that wouldn’t stand a chance if we didn’t have the opportunity to build that relationship,” said Deputy Christopher Bischoff, the SRO at WIlmot HIgh School.
The SRO would be funded through a Fund 80 levy, which is outside of the regular tax levy. Fund 80 — also known as a Community Service Fund — can also be used for extracurriculars made available to any resident child of the district, even those who do not attend Riverview School.
If the Fund 80-SRO levy survives the annual meeting it is estimated that the SRO would start in school in January.
The Salem Lakes Village Board also needs to add their share of SRO funding to their budget, due to be passed in November.
It is unclear what would happen to the SRO at Riverview or other grade schools if the school approves funding, but the village does not.
School board member Vickie Galich urged residents that favor the SRO program at Riverview to let their view be known to the Village Board also at upcoming meetings.
“You can express your opinion at that time.,” Galich said. “Don’t wait until the last minute; they don’t add things at the last minute.”
