Committee endorses renewal of school resource officer program in Tumwater 

The Tumwater Public Health and Safety Committee endorsed a contract to renew a long-standing school resource officer (SRO) program with the Tumwater School District at a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 9. 

Launched 15 years ago, the program places two Tumwater Police Department officers across 10 schools in Tumwater to provide a uniformed presence and foster positive relationships with students and staff. 

The contract defines the responsibilities of both the school district and police department, including how SROs are funded and compensated. 

As in the current arrangement, the city will continue to fund the officer primarily stationed at Tumwater High School and Bush Middle School, while the school district will fund the officer assigned to Black Hills High School and Tumwater Middle School.  

When the contract was presented to the committee on July 8, members expressed that before they recommend it for approval, they wanted to see additional reporting requirements embedded into the contract to determine how the program is performing. 

A revised contract presented to the committee contains a provision making it the responsibility of the school district to track and collect data as required by Revised Code of Washington  (RCW) 28A.320.124. Additionally, the school district would have to provide the city with a report on the data on an annual basis. 

Police Chief Jay Mason assured the committee that they can expect to see a “great product going forward.” 

Mason also shared an update that since he last talked about the contract, the police department has selected a new SRO officer, Detective Seth Stauffer, who is now assigned to Black Hills High School and Tumwater Middle School. He replaced Detective Rossco Rollman, who has retired. 

With the committee’s endorsement, the contract will be forwarded to the city council for approval as part of its consent agenda on Tuesday, Sept. 16. Once approved, the contract will run through the end of 2028.