Earle city, school officials come to agreement on use of community center

Earle city, school officials come to agreement on use of community center

Deal to bring resource officer to campus still in the works

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Earle will partner with the school district to use the community center, but held off signing an agreement with the district to provide a school resource officer at the elementary school until they can hash out some remaining concerns.

The school district will get use of three rooms in the building, which is located on Hwy. 64, and has agreed to share in the cleaning and maintenance costs. The district will also set its rental rate for the school cafeteria at a similar rate so as not to compete.

Superintendent Dr.

Richard Wilde said the school plans to put computers in one room for the community to use.

“We are going to turn that into our parent center,” Wilde said.

Wilde said the school district will have two staff members in the building and will be able to open and close the facility as well as provide general supervision and cleaning.

“This is a true partnership with the city,” Wilde said.

“We’re trying to get more community use for that facility. So we will staff it during the daytime and take responsibility for cleaning and have one room for a computer lab the community can access. So there won’t be any reason to not use the community center versus the school.”

Mayor Sherman Smith said he likes the idea of partnering with the school.

“It’s been one of my top goals to get more use out of that building,” Smith said.

“So I like what the school is doing.”

The city has spent thousands of dollars cleaning and repairing the building so that it can be rented out for family reunions, weddings, and other community events.

Smith also is applying for a FUN grant to plant trees, add a pavilion and playground equipment, and to plant trees to enhance the walking trail behind the building.

However, the City Council tabled the school district’s proposal to partner with the city to provide training and supervision for a second school resource officer.

The Sheriff’s Office will be giving the school district an officer to server as a school resource officer at the high school and the district would like to move the current officer to the elementary school to enhance security there.

A school resource officer is a uniformed police officer hired by the school district to provide security during school hours and events.

The district is proposing to have Earle Police Department provide supervision for the SRO and will pay $3,600 for supervision. The current SRO is an auxiliary office with Earle Police Department.

“We would be willing to pay a reasonable amount for supervision,” Wilde said. “The city would get joint supervision of that position so that person could move toward being a school resource officer and not just an auxiliary officer.”

Mayor Sherman Smith said while the city is agreeable to the idea, the City Council expressed some personnel concerns that they need to clear up first.

“She’s an auxiliary officer currently,” Smith said. “We just want to make sure that we can put her in that position because the council had some concerns about the other officers. So we are going to make sure we follow the rules and not discriminating against anybody else who might want the job.”

By Mark Randall