City of Lawrence leaders, school board begin heated discussion on future funding for school resource officers

School district leaders have concerns about helping the city pay for a program that puts police officers in schools, and some are questioning whether the program is worthwhile at all.

That was the takeaway from Wednesday’s meeting between City of Lawrence leaders and the Lawrence school board about whether the district should contribute some funding for the Lawrence Police Department’s school resource officer program. The program has been paid for solely by grants and city funds since 2001. At Wednesday’s meeting, however, Police Chief Gregory Burns Jr. proposed expanding the program and also suggested that the school district pay half of the salary and benefits for the officers — currently about $47,000 per officer per year.