Judge: MPS, city must get SROs in schools within 10 days and split the cost evenly

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- In a scathing ruling from the bench Monday afternoon, a Milwaukee County judge ordered Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and the City of Milwaukee to have school resource officers (SROs) in the district's schools within 10 days or risk being held in contempt. 

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge David Borowski had previously set Monday as a deadline for the district to implement the officers. Under a 2023 state law that increased funding for local governments and let Milwaukee charge a city sales tax, a side condition of MPS needed to bring 25 resource officers back into its schools.

MPS is now more than 13 months late on following that section of the law. The district and the city have continued to disagree on who should pay for the officers.

A visibly frustrated Borowski accused MPS of acting as if it were above the law, and he also criticized the city for the positions it has taken in the ongoing talks. 

Borowski then ordered MPS and the city to evenly split the officers' cost, which an MPS attorney pegged at about $1.5 million to staff 25 SROs for 176 school days.

MPS board member Missy Zombor told reporters last week the district had offered to cover 33% of the officers' salaries, as well as the cost of training them.

Borowski told both sides they have until Feb. 27 to get the 25 SROs in MPS schools. If the district and city miss that deadline, Borowski said both sides would face sanctions and risk being held in contempt of court. 

Borowski in a hearing last month gave the district and city until Feb. 17 to get officers into schools, and Borowski said Monday he would no longer be patient.

"If they are not in the schools in the next 10 days, I will set a hearing, and we will take up sanctions, contempt of court and the allocations of all actual costs to the plaintiff's attorney and to the plaintiff," Borowski said. "This ongoing violation of state law, this ongoing violation -- just flaunting of legal and court authority -- will end."

Monday evening, the MPS board and administration under interim Superintendent Eduardo Galvan issued a joint statement. It repeated a statement from earlier in the day, stating the district was willing to implement officers as soon as the city makes them available.

"MPS anticipates the arrival of School Resource Officers within ten days as ordered by the court. As the judge noted there was a gap in the law related to the apportionment of funding, which the judge addressed today," the statement said. "In accordance with the judge’s ruling, MPS will request Board action to allocate the necessary funds to cover 50% of the city’s $1,591,959 cost, totaling $795,979, and to share the SRO training expenses equally."

Jeff Fleming, a spokesman for Mayor Cavalier Johnson, also acknowledged Borowski's order settled the spending debate and pledged the city would work with Borowski and others to ensure the law gets followed.

"Today’s ruling fairly resolves the most significant issue holding up the deployment of school resource officers in a manner consistent with the most recent offer the city shared with MPS," Fleming said. "The city is prepared to finalize a memorandum of understanding with MPS and fully comply with the training requirements set forth in state statutes."

The lawsuit was brought by Charlene Abughrin, an MPS parents who has said she supported a return of SROs for safety reasons. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a conservative law firm, has represented Abughrin throughout the proceedings.

After Monday's ruling, Abughrin said she was satisfied.

"Absolutely, because they would've just kept going back and forth - 'You pay,' 'No, you pay,' 'No, you pay.' You know what? Just split it and call it a day," she said. "[Borowski] left them with no excused on the table, none whatsoever."

Nobody from MPS, including administrators, the teachers' union and students, seems enthusiastic about bringing back SROs. However, Republican lawmakers insisted on the condition as part of Milwaukee getting to issue a sales tax.

Republican lawmakers have acknowledged the law's provision about SROs doesn't really have any teeth, but they've hinted they could withhold funding from the city during the next two-year state budget as a response to MPS' refusal to obey the law.

The city and MPS each levy their own property tax and operate independent budgets. Borowski noted, either way, Milwaukee taxpayers would be paying for the officers, and for two entities that each have annual budgets that exceed $1 billion, splitting $1.5 million would be a "drop in the bucket."

"Taxpayers are paying for this, so you guys are splitting hairs," Borowski said. "This is all bluster. I wanna know why this has not been done."

Pamela Revels, president of the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), maintained that with proper training, the 25 Milwaukee police officers assigned to MPS schools could make a difference through improved relationships with students and administrators.

"Right person, right training can make a huge impact positively in your school environment," Revels said.

She added that being an SRO is a "very unique role" that has multiple facets -- including protecting and serving the children and being a mentor and public safety counselor.

"So, if anybody talks to you in law enforcement, they'll tell you today we're really struggling just hiring law enforcement officers in general, but when you take into account they're carefully selected, it puts it a little bit higher," Revels said. "We have to learn about things, you know, how do you work with diverse students? How can we support students that have disabilities?"

Revels noted that the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) through the U.S. Dept. of Justice deemed NASRO as the "gold standard" when it comes to SRO training.

"This environment is much different than just being on the roads, the streets," Revels said. "There's so many ins and outs with the school environment that this training actually gives you kind of a leg up, so when you go in, you are better prepared to handle situations the right way, so that you're you make sure that you're not hindering education, but you're actually helping it become more successful."

Contributions also made by: Ellie Nakamoto-White