DATE: June 4, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Police Department
TITLE: MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH VISTA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR ONE SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER, ACCEPT AND APPROPRIATE REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT SCHOOL SAFETY ENHANCEMENT TEAM
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff and the Police and Fire Commission recommend that the City Council approve a three-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Vista Unified School District to provide one School Resource Officer; accept revenue to the City estimated at $292,882 for FY 2025-26, $303,362 for FY 2026-27 and $312,341 for FY 2027-28; appropriate the revenue and expenditure to the Police Department for the School Safety Enhancement Team; and authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
The Oceanside Police Department (OPD) has had the School Resource Officer (SRO) program in place for over 32 years, partnering with the Oceanside Unified School District to staff and fund SROs for the schools in the City of Oceanside. Since 2022, the OPD has partnered with the Vista Unified School District (VUSD) to staff and fund the School Safety Enhancement Team with one SRO. The proposed MOU reflects the placing of one SRO floating to VUSD campuses, and addresses the cost needed for each school year to maintain the program.
The terms of this proposed MOU shall be from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2028, and may be renewed for an additional period, not to exceed one year.
OPD would assign one sworn, fully-equipped officer, per OPD job description, with a marked patrol vehicle to the Campuses.
The following is a general list of duties that the School Safety Enhancement Team would provide:
1. Provide a uniformed police presence on a daily basis during the normal school year, as a crime and violence deterrent.
2. Assist with the handling of truants.
3. Provide Crisis Response Preparation training for each Campus.
4. Assist each Campus with the creation of a school safety plan and emergency guidelines to be used during critical incidents.
5. Provide ongoing crisis response assessments at the Campuses.
6. Provide support with incidental law enforcement occurrences.
7. Provide educational and instructional classes to students, parents, and school staff.
Additionally, pursuant to City Administrative Directives AD-35, AD-37, and AD-40, the District shall be responsible for general administrative overhead costs of the program and fleet management. These responsibilities include fleet maintenance and replacement, support services such as information technology, Central Square public safety system, hardware and software replacement, and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD). These administrative overhead costs are set by AD-40 at the rate of 11% of overall personnel costs.
In the current MOU covering the period between July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025, VUSD paid $36,654 per fiscal year for the future purchase of a Police Interceptor Vehicle. The purchase of the vehicle is scheduled to take place in FY 2025-26, once sufficient funds have been collected from VUSD. At the end of each fiscal year, OPD has transferred these funds to the Fleet Account, and will have collected a total of $100,799 by the end of FY 2024-25. Effective FY 2025-26, OPD will continue to collect $23,200 in replacement funds and $11,000 for M&O for the maintenance and replacement of the police interceptor vehicle. OPD will continue to transfer these funds to the Fleet Account at the end of each fiscal year.
In addition, VUSD agrees to pay for one or more officers to attend pre-designated special events directly or indirectly sponsored by VUSD. Such events include, but are not limited to, school sport games, dances, and graduations. The City would be fully reimbursed for these events. Any events attended by an officer outside of their normal work schedule would 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. The District would reimburse the City within thirty (30) days of receipt of an invoice for these services.
OPD and VUSD will collaborate in assessment of the Team program on an annual basis. The City of Oceanside possesses the discretion to redeploy any SRO as emergency needs arise (i.e., crime sprees, riots, and other unforeseen critical occurrences).
FISCAL IMPACT
For one (1) SRO, VUSD would reimburse the City an estimated amount of $292,882, which is the fully burdened cost for one SRO for the 2025-26 school year, as well as $303,362 and $312,341 for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years, respectively. VUSD would also reimburse for any police officer pay raises that may go into effect during the period of this agreement.
For the 2025-2026 school years, the District would pay based on actual expenses, which would be due on a quarterly basis on the 15th day of October, January, April and July.
Expenditures will be tracked in the VUSD School Safety Enhancement Team account 817144625272, as shown below:
|
Item |
Business Unit |
Object Code |
FY 2025-26 |
|
Personnel Services |
817144625272 |
5105 |
$132,340 |
|
Work Comp |
817144625272 |
5206 |
$15,908 |
|
Fringe Benefits |
817144625272 |
5207 |
$74,812 |
|
Uniform |
817144625272 |
5380 |
$1,000 |
|
Pension |
817144625272 |
5212 |
$7,119 |
|
Internal Services Fund |
817144625272 |
5600 |
$27,503 |
|
Transfer From |
817144625272 |
6900.0831 |
$34,200 |
|
Transfer To |
620644831 |
6800.0272 |
$34,200 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
817144625272 |
|
$292,882 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Revenue |
817144625272 |
4376 |
$292,882 |
|
|
|
|
|
When received, the reimbursement funds will be deposited in the revenue account 817144625272.4376. At the end of each fiscal year, the transfer to the Fleet Management account will be initiated by the OPD Finance Department based on actual costs.
COMMISSION OR COMMITTEE REPORT
The Police and Fire Commission approved staff’s recommendation at its regularly scheduled meeting on May 15, 2025.
CITY ATTORNEY’S ANALYSIS
The referenced documents have been reviewed by the City Attorney and approved as to form.
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Prepared by: Whitney Fernandez, Management Analyst
Reviewed by: Taurino Valdovinos, Chief of Police
Submitted by: Jonathan Borrego, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Staff Report
2. VUSD MOU 2025-2028