MPS filing details district's SRO progress ahead of deadline, no details from MPD or city yet

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- With a deadline fast approaching, and hefty fines on the line, an attorney for Milwaukee Public Schools wrote the district has done everything it can to comply with a judge's order.

MPS and the city are still negotiating behind closed doors to return officers to schools. A Milwaukee County judge ordered that must happen by this Thursday, Feb. 27, but there is still a lot of uncertainty.

A new court filing is shedding some light on the school district's efforts to comply with the judge's order.

But from the city and police side, there have been no updates on what they're doing to comply.

"The Board has now taken all steps within its power to comply," reads a letter from the attorney representing MPS in the SRO case.

The letter was submitted Friday and details the district's efforts to comply with a Milwaukee County judge's order that officers must return to MPS schools by Thursday in order to be in compliance with state law.

Twice the letter says the district is "ready, willing and able to accept" SROs when they're made available. Elsewhere it says MPS is "actively awaiting" their arrival.

But whether that will happen in time is still unclear.

Every SRO is required to go through 40 hours of mandatory training conducted by the National Association of School Resource Officers.

On Monday, NASRO confirmed "no Milwaukee Police Department officers are currently registered for NASRO training."

Last week, NASRO's executive director told us finding the right people for the job is as important as the training they receive.

But so far it's also unclear if the officers who will eventually serve as SROs have even been selected yet.

We asked MPD Monday. The department's communications arm said it could not answer that or other detailed questions that were submitted, citing the ongoing litigation.

Instead, MPD pointed us to a statement that was already sent out last week, which refers questions to the city.

When we asked a city spokesperson if the 25 officers have been identified, they referred us back to MPD, writing, "your question is best addressed to them."

The two sides have just two full days left to hammer out an agreement before a Thursday morning hearing.

The MPS attorney's letter says both sides are "working diligently" on terms of the program. But neither side offered details and it's unclear what progress has been made.

The district's attorney wrote in the letter MPS "Administrators have blocked time in their schedules for each morning [this] week in an anticipation of welcoming school resource officers as soon [sic] they are made available."

The attorney representing the city did not respond to messages or detailed questions.