MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee County judge ordered the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Public Schools to split the costs of implementing school resource officers in MPS schools on Monday.
The judge ordered the city to pay 50% of the costs, with MPS covering the other 50%, effective immediately.
According to the ruling, SROs must be in the schools within the next 10 days. If not, the judge said there will be sanctions.
"The MPS school board thinks they are above the law. Now the city may also think that but MPS clearly thinks it," Judge David Borowski said in court.
The vice president or president of the MPS school board must attend the next court hearing, along with the mayor or the mayor's designee.
"I’m not dumb enough to allow this to go on forever. It’s not going to happen," Borowski said.
The court order came down in January. It called for MPS to get 25 SROs in place by February 17.
The order is the result of a Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty lawsuit filed last year on behalf of the mother of an MPS student. The lawsuit claimed the district violated a state law requiring SROs in Milwaukee schools starting on January 1, 2024.
TMJ4 News has been in touch with Charlene Abughrin who filed that lawsuit last year. She's a mother of six kids who have all been enrolled in MPS schools. She says that for her, it all boils down to what can be done to keep children as safe as possible.
"He left them with no excuses on the table. None whatsoever. The next time we go to court, they need to comply or there are going to be sanctions for them," Charlene Abughrin said in court on Monday.
Abughrin told TMJ4 News that she was happy with the ruling from the judge.
A spokesperson for the City of Milwaukee gave the following statement after the ruling:
"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. The city is prepared to finalize a memorandum of understanding with MPS and fully comply with the training requirements set forth in state statutes. We anticipate working with the judge and others to fully and fairly implement the program."
Watch: Judge orders City of Milwaukee, MPS to split cost of school resource officers
The MPS Board of School Directors sent this statement out Monday evening:
"Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) remains ready to implement a School Resource Officer (SRO) program as soon as officers are made available to the district. 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. 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."
The next hearing is set for 10 a.m. Feb. 27.
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