Central Bucks School District has asked Chalfont Borough to opt into a school resource officer program that would assign police officers from Central Bucks Regional Police Department to work in district schools.
Unami Middle School is located in the borough.
Mayor Brian D. Wallace brought the topic to Chalfont Borough Council’s April 11 meeting, but the request dates back to March’s meeting, when the district gave a presentation on school safety and security in the hopes that Chalfont would join the program.
More recently, Wallace stated, the district even offered to pay for any expenses that come from joining the program.
To Wallace, the decision of whether to opt into the program is purely practical rather than ideological. “We’re not really trying to make a decision as to whether we agree that there needs to be some type of officer in the school,” he said. “Our question is whether we want to participate or not.”
Wallace made a case for why opting in could be a beneficial move. He pointed out that Warrington and other townships already have police employed, and that, in his opinion, many people in the area are on board with it.
At the same time, Councilman Michael Kelly asserted that there would be a cost, regardless of what Central Bucks says. While officers can serve as an extra pair of eyes and ears, the funds to hire them will ultimately come from taxpayers in the district.
No final decisions have been made yet regarding the SRO program, but Wallace promised to keep the public informed on any updates.
For right now, he would like to take the time to discuss all possible options. “As far as the commission goes so far, our message is ‘we’re not voting on whether [having police in schools] is good or bad.’,” says Wallace. “We’re staying away from that issue...we’re concentrating on what that means to the Central Bucks Regional Police Commission.”
In other business council reviewed the 2022 financial report, which generally showed positive financial gain within the borough.
General revenue earned had increased somewhat from last year, going from about $2.4 million to roughly $2.6 million, and the borough’s deficit was significantly smaller than expected.
While Councilman Mark Glidden had stated earlier in the meeting that the council has never planned budgets that anticipate financial boon years, Council President John R. Engel expressed excitement over the news, as the extra funds could be used to finance the borough’s many new projects.
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