A school resource officer assigned to a high school has been a common sight in the area for many years.
Morton High School has had an SRO from the Morton Police Department for 24 years, according to Police Chief Shawn Darche.
Pekin Police Chief Seth Ranney and Washington Police Chief Jeff Stevens both trace their departments' SRO program with their respective community high schools to the late 1990's.
There was one major difference in the three SRO arrangements until this past school year.
The cities of Pekin and Washington each share the cost of the SRO with their high school, with the school picking up the bulk of the expense because the SRO is assigned to there for several months a year.
The Village of Morton picked up the entire cost of Morton High's SRO until the 2024-25 school year. The village board and school board this month each approved an SRO cost-sharing agreement that began this past school year.
Morton Mayor Jeff Kaufman said he believes the Morton School District's free pass in paying for Morton High's SRO for more than two decades dates to the start of the program, when the SRO was funded by a grant.
The grant has long since run out, Kaufman said, and it was time for the village and school district to share the SRO cost.
Kaufman said he first broached the subject of sharing SRO costs to school district administrators before the start of the 2024-25 school year.
New Morton School District Superintendent Joe Sander, formerly the assistant superintendent, didn't oppose Kaufman's request. Neither did retired Superintendent Craig Smock.
"We've been the outlier in the area when it comes to paying for an SRO," Sander said.
The Morton School District paid $115,888 to the village for the SRO for the 2024-25 school year in May.
"That's 75% of the cost because the SRO is assigned to the high school nine months of the year," Darche said.
For each succeeding school year, unless the agreement is changed, the Morton School District's SRO cost will increase 3.5%.
Kaufman said both Sander and Smock were gracious in discussions about the SRO.
"There was absolutely no animosity," he said.
