District approves SRO contracts as officers report teaching, traffic enforcement and referrals
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Summary
The board authorized contracts in excess of $250,000 with Fort Collins Police Services, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office and Timnath Police for school resource officer services and heard a year‑end report on SRO activities, including teaching events and traffic enforcement.
The Poudre School District Board approved, by roll call, expenditures in excess of $250,000 and authorized the board president to execute three contracts with the City of Fort Collins, Town of Timnath and Larimer County to continue School Resource Officer (SRO) services.
Jared Sargent, the district’s new director of student safety and emergency management (formerly a corporal with Fort Collins Police Services), gave the SRO annual report and described three functions SROs serve: teaching, mentoring/counseling, and law enforcement. He said SROs participated in approximately 274 teaching events this year (reaching about 7,200 individuals) and that SROs conducted traffic safety enforcement and community events to improve school‑zone safety and relationships with families.
Law‑enforcement statistics presented to the board showed year‑to‑date citation totals of about 24 for Fort Collins SROs, 18 for Larimer County, and 10 for Timnath, with an observed increase in assault cases in county schools. Traffic‑related stops were highlighted as a district priority; Sargent described targeted enforcement, radar details in school‑zone areas and community visibility operations.
Sargent also described SRO referrals to community services, including about 60 referrals to the district’s Center for Family Outreach this year, and said 14 referrals to restorative justice were handled by Fort Collins SROs. Board members welcomed Sargent and praised relationship‑building work; several directors asked for continued outreach to teachers and parents on SRO roles and for attention to staff concerns about classroom management.
The motion approving contracts passed 6‑0.