High schools and junior highs in the Santa Clarita Valley will continue to have school resource deputies on campus after the L.A. County Board of Supervisors extended its agreement with the Sheriff’s Department at Tuesday’s meeting.
The agreement is slated to run through the 2025-26 school year, with an option to extend through June 2027.
According to a letter from Sheriff Robert Luna, the agreement cost close to $9 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year, with the 15 school districts that contract with the Sheriff’s Department splitting that bill.
The William S. Hart Union High School District is one of those. In a prepared statement released on Wednesday, the district said it is happy to see the program extended.
“The Hart district has enjoyed a fantastic partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the school resource officer program,” the statement reads. “We are pleased to be able to continue to provide this program which supports the safety and wellness of students and staff in the Hart district.”
With the Hart district starting up on Monday and many other school districts doing the same in the coming days and weeks, 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a prepared statement that the county owes those districts safe campuses.
“As students and faculty prepare for the first day of school and all the excitement that brings, we owe it to them to ensure that their safety is a top priority,” Barger said in the statement. “In my district, having access to a deputy on campus or nearby can be critical in emergency situations. The incident at Saugus High School is a terrible reminder of that. I believe that having a deputy on campus can make a huge life-saving difference should an emergency occur.
“I also believe that the role of a deputy on campus should be that of providing safety and security,” Barger continued. “Under no circumstances should a deputy be used for disciplinary purposes. I know this is of specific concern in the Antelope Valley where past reports have shown disparities. I hear and share the concerns. Deputies should not be responding to calls where a school administrator or mental health professional are better suited to assist.”
Under the terms of the agreement, the program calls for a sergeant, a bonus deputy and 39 sheriff’s deputies from 11 different patrol stations to be stationed at schools across the county.
“Deputies assist the schools with the implementation of programs designed to help prevent school violence, provide a safe learning environment and provide public safety,” Luna’s letter reads. “Deputies coordinate and train with patrol stations, the fire department and school administrators on a regular basis to prepare for a number of possible disasters including natural disasters, campus violence and terrorism.”
According to Deputy Robert Jensen, a spokesman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station and a former school resource deputy, each comprehensive high school in the Hart district gets an assigned deputy who also covers nearby junior highs and other school sites.
“They exist not only to provide security to the campus, but to provide resources for schools when it comes to criminal matters, mental health, law enforcement engagement, social work calls and concerns with abuse,” Jensen said in a phone interview.
The four local elementary districts are also covered by the SCV station, but do not have assigned deputies. Jensen said if a call for service is put out by a school in one of those districts, a deputy is likely to be there within five minutes.
As a former member of the school resource deputy program, Jensen said the overall response from parents, students and staff is “overwhelmingly positive” and that they are wanted on campuses.
“They’re not there to cite kids — they have to sometimes — but they’re there to be an engaged member of the school culture and community,” Jensen said.
School resource deputies are also leaned on for their expertise when it comes to juvenile matters outside of school, Jensen added.
