DATE: August 19, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Police Department
TITLE: MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH OCEANSIDE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS
RECOMMENDATION
title
Staff recommends that the City Council approve a three-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Oceanside Unified School District to provide School Resource Officers; accept revenue to the City estimated at $530,283 for FY 2026-27, $549,362 for FY 2027-28 and $575,827 for FY 2028-29; and authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the Memorandum of Understanding.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
The Oceanside Police Department (OPD) partners with the Oceanside Unified School District (OUSD) to staff and fund the School Safety Team with School Resource Officers (SROs). The SRO program has been in place for over 30 years. The program originally included five officers but was later reduced to three positions. Under the previous Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and OUSD, the school district added a fourth SRO to meet its needs. This additional position was funded through grant monies acquired by OPD, with costs beyond available grant funds shared equally between OUSD and the City. This MOU continues the four-SRO program structure and addresses the funding, and staffing, requirements for the 2026-27, 2027-28, and 2028-29 school years necessary to maintain all four officer positions.
The MOU provides the following:
- Three fully equipped sworn officers from FY 2026-27, 2027-28, and 2028-29 equally funded by OUSD and the City.
- One fully equipped sworn officer from FY 2026-27, 2027-28, and 2028-29 funded with grant monies acquired by OPD. Costs beyond available grant funds will be shared equally between OUSD and the City. The assignment of personnel to this position is contingent upon OPD maintaining adequate staffing levels.
These positions will be assigned full-time to school safety and education-related projects.
The SRO program provides an important link between OPD and OUSD. The following is a general list of responsibilities of the School Safety Team:
1. Provide a positive role model to foster, establish, and maintain trust between members of the community, OUSD staff and student body, and OPD;
2. Provide non-enforcement opportunities to interact with the student body to encourage the trust necessary to report incidents that might otherwise be unreported;
3. Provide opportunities to remediate behavioral issues observed in students outside of the criminal justice system, such as diversion programs and counseling opportunities;
4. Provide educational and instructional classes to students, parents, and school staff;
5. Provide a uniformed police presence on a daily basis as a crime and violence deterrent;
6. Facilitate the expedient addressing of truants;
7. Provide assistance with incidental law enforcement occurrences;
8. Provide Crisis Response Preparation training for each campus within OUSD;
9. Assist each campus with creating a school safety plan and emergency guidelines to be used during critical incidents; and
10. Provide on-going crisis response assessments at school campuses.
OUSD has budgeted revenue to offset the costs of four SRO positions assigned to the School Safety Team for the 2026-27, 2027-28, and 2028-29 school years. OUSD will reimburse the City for 50 percent of the fully-burdened cost of three officers. The amount estimated is $462,593 for the 2026-27 school year, $479,321 for the 2027-28 school year, and $496,800 for the 2028-29 school year, plus any police officer pay raises that go into effect during the life of this Agreement. These estimated amounts are subject to adjustment at time of invoicing based upon calculation of actual expenses incurred.
Contingent upon OPD staffing, grant funding has been secured for an additional officer from the State’s Citizen’s Option for Public Safety (COPS) grant in the amount of $103,000 for the 2026-27 school year. The remaining balance needed to fund the position is equally divided between the City and OUSD in the amount estimated to be $83,379 for 2026-27 school year, $88,081 for the 2027-28 school year, and $106,050 for the 2028-29 school year. Provided the grant funding is still available for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years, this agreement shall continue for the fourth SRO position with both the City and OUSD equally funding the amount remaining beyond that paid for by grant monies. If either party determines that this amount is excessive for budgeted monies, the fourth position will be dissolved.
Additionally, pursuant to City Administrative Directives AD-40, AD-37, and AD-35, OUSD will be responsible for general administrative overhead costs of the program, which include support services such as information technology, hardware and software replacement, and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD). General Administrative and Information Technologies Internal Service Funds are estimated to be $68,018 for the 2026-27 school year, $69,378 for the 2027-28 school year, and $70,766 for the 2028-29 school year. In-addition to the above cost, the District agrees to pay for officers to attend pre-designated special events directly or indirectly sponsored by the District, attend Board meetings as requested by the District, and respond to call-outs and extension of Officer’s shift due to school-related incidents. These events include, but are not limited to, football games, basketball games, school dances, and graduations. Any events attended by officers outside of their normal work schedule will be compensated at time and one half of their normal hourly rate. These costs are in addition to the yearly calculated rate and will be borne solely by the District.
For the 2026-27, 2027-28, and 2028-29 school years, OUSD will pay the actual invoiced expenses, which will be due on a quarterly basis on the 15th day of October, January, April and July. OUSD will pay its portion of the fourth position, half the amount not funded by grant, in four equal payments due on the 15th day of October, January, April and July. The existence of this fourth position is contingent upon grant funding.
The City retains the authority to reassign the SRO in response to emergency situations resulting from unforeseen critical incidents.
FISCAL IMPACT
Expenditures will be tracked in the OUSD Resource Officers FY 2026-29 account.
Reimbursements will be deposited into this account.
The FY 2026-27 budget by business unit and object code are detailed below. Future years’ budget appropriations will be requested through the annual budget process.
|
Item |
Business Unit |
Object Code |
Budget |
|
Personnel Services |
817144325270 |
5105 |
$532,113 |
|
Overtime |
817144325270 |
5120 |
$26,000 |
|
Fringe Benefits |
817144325270 |
5206 |
$67,892 |
|
|
|
5207 |
$371,524 |
|
Uniforms |
817144325270 |
5380 |
$4,000 |
|
Internal Service Funds |
817144325270 |
5600 |
$68,018 |
|
Total Expenditures |
|
|
$1,069,547 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
COPS Grant |
817144325270 |
6800.0217 |
$103,000 |
|
City General Fund |
817144325270 |
6800.0101 |
$436,264 |
|
OUSD |
817144325270 |
4461 |
$530,283 |
|
Total Revenue |
|
|
$1,069,547 |
COMMISSION OR COMMITTEE REPORT
The Police and Fire Commission approved staff’s recommendation at its regularly scheduled meeting on June 9, 2026.
CITY ATTORNEY’S ANALYSIS
The referenced documents have been reviewed by the City Attorney and approved as to form.
end
Prepared by: Whitney Fernandez, Management Analyst
Reviewed by: Taurino Valdovinos, Chief of Police
Submitted by: Jonathan Borrego, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
1. FY2026-29 OUSD Memorandum of Understanding