An agreement is in the works between the Foster City Police Department and San Mateo-Foster City School District outlining the roles and responsibilities of each agency when it comes to interacting with students.
Diego Ochoa
“This is an item we bring to the board after many months of work and many months of collaboration,” said Superintendent Diego Ochoa during a Board of Trustees meeting Thursday. “It’s a written expression of the tenets, the concepts, the values, the strategies that we want to use to define our relationship to allow the public, to allow our parents, to allow our educators to know how the city of Foster City Police Department and the San Mateo-Foster City School District are agreeing to enter into this work.”
Ken Chin
Thursday’s meeting was the first time the draft memorandum of understanding was publicly discussed by trustees. As drafted, the MOU states the district is responsible for disciplining students for matters related to school activities or attendance while officers may be called to respond to other matters such as disposal of contraband. Officials will also be involved if a student’s behavior violates criminal law like arson, assault or drug sales, according to the MOU.
Officers may also be called to campuses during emergencies if the incident requires a response outside the district’s resources, according to the MOU. Any incident that begins at school and extends into the community would be handled by the police department, the MOU reads.
Tracy Avelar
At multiple points in the draft document, both parties agree to work collaboratively on a variety of issues from planning events, sharing information, prioritizing diversion and implementing restorative approaches to discipline, and reviewing the MOU annually.
LaTisa Brooks
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“Foster City Police Department and the school district have a long standing collaborative partnership. We look forward to continuing that partnership into the future with even more opportunities to build relationships with the youth in Foster City. This MOU is a positive step in that direction by outlining the needs and expectations of our school community and the police department,” Chief Tracy Avelar said in an email statement Friday.
Trustees suggested little changes to the document Thursday. Trustee Maggie Trinh said her preference would be for the MOU to clearly state officers are not to be armed on campuses unless responding to an emergency, suggesting weapons could be intimidating to students, but others clarified officers are required to be prepared to respond to an emergency at all times when on duty.
Aside from that suggestion, trustees largely spoke of the importance of undergoing a similar process with the county Sheriff’s Office and the San Mateo Police Department given that those agencies oversee other parts of the school district.
This MOU process comes about three years after trustees voted to terminate its contract with the San Mateo Police Department, dissolving its school resource officer program which circulated law enforcement officers through the district’s middle schools. At the time, trustees cited inequitable discipline and inadequate data as the reasons for the decision but indicated they’d be interested in revisiting the matter down the road.
That vote came down to a 4-1 vote, board President Ken Chin, then vice president, being the lone dissenter. Chin shared hope this new MOU process with the Foster City Police Department will help clarify roles, noting “we’re all in the same boat in terms of protecting our community.”
Also speaking about the Foster City Police Department, Trustee LaTisa Brooks said the organization has always been a positive partner for school events, whether in uniform or wearing plain clothes, and have shown respect toward students and families.
“I know that the relationship between the district and this department is very vital, and I’m glad to see that we are engaging in the process of partnership and doing what’s best for our students and our community,” Brooks said. “I hope this can expand to include the entire district.”
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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