Alisal Union School District rejects plan for school resource officers

UPDATED 8/9/2017 11:00 p.m :

In less than 24 hours, two Salinas school districts have said “no” to School Resource Officers.

Wednesday, the Alisal Union School District voted against a proposal to have four officers in their elementary schools.

It was a proposal brought to the Alisal Union School District board two weeks ago.

The Salinas Police Department was looking to put four school resource officers into Elementary Schools.

A federal grant would cover the costs through year 2020.

“This was a fully funded grant in which we were bringing an offer to the table,” said Salinas police Chief Adele Frese, “A proposal that existed in 2014 that was discussed and agreed upon between a superintendent and our former chief.”

The Salinas Police Department approached the Alisal Union School District after reaching out to the Salinas Union High School District two months ago. A district that ended up rejecting the proposal the day before.

“We were your outlet or your last recourse for that grant and I don’t think our kids deserve to be a last recourse for anybody,” said board member Maricela Cruz.

Another issue for the board, the limited amount of time they had to look over the plan.

“This is totally unfair for us you’re giving us one month to think about something so major,” Fernando Mercado the board’s vice-president said.

KION caught up with Salinas Police Chief Adele Frese just after the board rejected the proposal.

“It’s disappointing although I can’t say that I was totally confident that this would turn out in favor of the SROs,” Frese said.

Still the chief says that even though this proposal is off the table for now, they still hope to build a relationship with the community. Something even those opposed to SROs also hope to see.

“If the city of Salinas is serious about improving the community police relations then let’s have our city budget reflect that,” said Jesus Valenzuela with Building Healthy Communities East Salinas, “Instead of relying on the federal government grant, let’s put our money where our mouth is.”

The board said they also had issues with the contract the Salinas Police Department brought to them which they say wouldn’t give them much say in who the SROs would be.

Police Chief Adele Frese says the department is looking into other ways they could use the grant but says it’s written very specifically.

PREVIOUS STORY: The Alisal Union School District has rejected a plan to bring police officers into its schools.

All five board members voted against the move Wednesday night.

Many saying they didn’t like that their district was considered after push back from the Salinas Union High School District.

This comes after the Salinas Union High School District said no to the plan Tuesday night with a unanimous vote. Board members said they didn’t have enough time to consider it or negotiate with the police department.

KION’s Zach Fuentes is following the story and will have more at 10&11.