MARYSVILLE – Marysville-Pilchuck High School students will likely soon share their campus with a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy again.
The district cut the position three years ago because of a budget crunch. Now, a $125,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice could help put a deputy back in school.
“I’m ecstatic about this,” Sheriff Rick Bart said. “It’s something I’ve been fighting long and hard for.”
Putting a deputy in the district will help the sheriff’s office build a relationship with students and improve safety, he said.
The catch is that to accept the grant money the county must agree to help fund the position for four years.
Such school deputies are common in many junior highs and high schools in the county, especially within cities.
Marysville-Pilchuck has private security guards, but sheriff’s deputies have been called there at least 138 times per year during the past three years. Deputies investigated reports including assault and vehicle theft there.
“The advantage of having a school resource officer is that when there’s a problem, they’re right there,” sheriff’s office Chief Tom Green said.
The close relationship a school deputy can build with students helps prevent crime and solve crimes outside the school district, he said.
“We think there’s real value in having a person in uniform mixing it up with the kids on a daily basis,” Green said.
Students “are more likely to open up about criminal activity at the school and in surrounding neighborhoods,” he said.
The Marysville School Board is expected to vote Nov. 15 in favor of funding 75 percent of the position, Marysville Superintendent Larry Nyland said. The district is planning to kick in $190,292 during the next four years.
“We appreciate the partnership with the county, and it’s in our combined best interest,” Nyland said.
It’s up to the Snohomish County Council to decide whether to kick in the last $63,430.
The issue is on the council’s Nov. 10 agenda and is expected to pass, said Councilman Jeff Sax, head of the council’s law and justice committee. “I don’t see any big hang-up there,” he said.
If approved, the county will provide $14,747 the first year, $10,057 the second, $14,954 the third and $23,627 the fourth year.
“I think it’s a terrific plan,” Sax said. “It teaches kids that deputies aren’t the enemy.”
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.
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