THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
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by Michael Monks
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When students return to Covington Independent Public Schools in August, they will not see Covington Police officers serving the district. Instead, the Covington School Board voted to accept a bid from the Kenton County Sheriff's Office to provide for school resource officers. SROs have been provided by Covington Police since the 2002-03 school year when the program was first implemented through a federal grant. The change is an unexpected hit to Covington's budget in the amount of $150,000, but that fiscal hole may already be more than accounted for with the retirement of two officers Tuesday night, according to City Manager Larry Klein, who explained that those positions will not be filled.
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The school board's decision was based on saving money. Covington offered to provide three officers at a cost between $200-$225,000 annually while the sheriff's office offered the same at $118,500. "I feel for those (Covington) officers because they've been very committed to the district and the kids and staff, but it was in no way a quality of service issue," said Ken Kippenbrock, Director of Pupil Personnel at CIPS, and a former Covington Police officer who was the first SRO assigned to the district. "To be able to save just shy of a hundred thousand dollars, it was just too much for the Board not to do that and we're grateful to the Sheriff's office for agreeing to work with us. They are not benefiting from this in any way financially."
The school board's decision was based on saving money. Covington offered to provide three officers at a cost between $200-$225,000 annually while the sheriff's office offered the same at $118,500. "I feel for those (Covington) officers because they've been very committed to the district and the kids and staff, but it was in no way a quality of service issue," said Ken Kippenbrock, Director of Pupil Personnel at CIPS, and a former Covington Police officer who was the first SRO assigned to the district. "To be able to save just shy of a hundred thousand dollars, it was just too much for the Board not to do that and we're grateful to the Sheriff's office for agreeing to work with us. They are not benefiting from this in any way financially."
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The huge difference in the amount for each department's bids is at least partially the result of a clause in the contract between the City and the Fraternal Order of Police which forbids the hiring of any part-time police officers. Any Covington officer working as a school resource officer is a full-time employee of the city with a salary, health care benefits, and a pension contribution. The sheriff's office, on the other hand, can employ retired officers to work 1,200 hours per year at six hours and forty-five minutes a day for 177 days. That makes those officers exempt from hazardous duty pension contributions and health care costs.
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Kippenbrock explained that a school resource officer's day is broken into thirds. After being trained by the National Association of School Resource Officers, an SRO spends a third of his or her time in a classroom talking about the law or government, or teaching subject-specific police-related material. Another third of the day is spent counseling students who may be vulnerable to criminal activity. The other third is spent performing traditional law enforcement duties on campus. The Covington School Board is expected to approve the specifics of the contract between the district and the sheriff's office at its next meeting, July 26.
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On the upside for Covington, there will be more police officers on the street. "Our goal is to put more of a police presence out in the public, so we'll redeploy them to the neighborhoods," said Chief of Police Spike Jones. "We certainly enjoyed being able to provide services and the interaction between us and the students." Additionally, when Covington's 911 emergency dispatch center closes later this year, two officers assigned there full-time will also return to patrolling the streets, according to City Manager Klein.
On the upside for Covington, there will be more police officers on the street. "Our goal is to put more of a police presence out in the public, so we'll redeploy them to the neighborhoods," said Chief of Police Spike Jones. "We certainly enjoyed being able to provide services and the interaction between us and the students." Additionally, when Covington's 911 emergency dispatch center closes later this year, two officers assigned there full-time will also return to patrolling the streets, according to City Manager Klein.
It's good to see that at least something that the BOE spends our money on gets bidded out.
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