WAUKEGAN, IL — Waukegan High School students returned to class Monday without the presence of local police security guards due to a contract dispute between city and school district officials.
There is reportedly a $200,000 gap between the total cost of the police officers and what the school district is willing to pay for two police officers at the Brookside and Washington high school locations.
Theresa Plascencia, superintendent of Waukegan Community Unit School District 60, said school officials have been unable to reach a “financially viable” agreement with the city.
Between 2016 and 2023, school district officials paid an average of just $70,000 per year for two school resource officers (SROs), according to the superintendent.
But last year, the district paid nearly $121,000 because the school board opted for a one-year extension instead of a five-year contract.
“We understand that personnel costs are increasing and we are willing to offset some of those increases for the city. For that reason, we are willing to increase our payment to $150,000 for 2024-2025. To date, we have not received an official counteroffer from the city,” Plascencia said in a letter to the community on Wednesday.
“We believe our district’s commitment to a 24 percent increase is a fair offer, and we hope the city will work with us to ensure these valued officials can return to our schools as soon as possible,” she said.
Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor told the Lake County News-Sun that the city has asked for the full $350,000 cost to be reimbursed to taxpayers who pay the officers’ salaries.
“That’s the cost of salary and benefits,” Taylor said. “That’s fixed. You don’t have to pay for liability insurance, workers’ compensation, training, uniforms. People want more cops on the street. This will take two cops off the street eight months a year.”
According to the Illinois State Board of Education, Waukegan High School has an enrollment of nearly 4,300 students. Last year, there were more than 2,600 “disciplinary incidents” involving 920 students, more than 400 of which involved violence. There were also 236 incidents that resulted in suspensions of more than three days.
The principal said she respects the valuable work the SROs do and had hoped to keep them on campus. And she assured the community that local schools will continue to have their own security forces and can call police in an emergency – even without SROs on campus.
“As we begin the school year,” the superintendent said, “you can be assured that the absence of SROs will not compromise the safety of our schools.”
