Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Tumwater School District Board of Directors is set to ink a new $610,430 contract for the School Resource Officer (SRO) Program with the City of Tumwater.
On July 24, the board reviewed the program’s contract for 2026-28 and received Superintendent Kevin Bogatin’s update on the 2024-25 SRO program.
The SRO program has been part of the district’s safety strategy for more than a decade. It was developed to promote safety on campuses, foster positive relationships between students and law enforcement, and support school staff in addressing safety concerns.
The Tumwater School District’s SRO program is an intergovernmental partnership with the City of Tumwater and Tumwater Police Department.
SROs have a multifaceted role that includes campus safety measures, such as patrolling school grounds, responding to incidents and coordinating emergency responses.
Bogatin said SROs not only provide safety, but also mentor and build relationships with students.
“It is also providing ... a level of presence in campus security. It is providing a law enforcement presence when laws are broken,” Bogatin said.
Bogatin said SROs do not do student discipline, as it is the role of district administrators, teachers and staff.
SROs also engage in education and outreach by leading classroom discussions on legal topics, conflict resolution and substance abuse prevention.
Working closely with school administrators, SROs also give input on safety planning, threat assessments and event security.
The Tumwater Police Department assigns two regularly employed police officers to serve as SROs.
One SRO primarily serves Tumwater High School and Bush Middle School, and the other one primarily serves Black Hills High School and Tumwater Middle School.
Both SROs also provide services to Black Lake Elementary, Tumwater Hill Elementary, Michael T. Simmons Elementary, Peter G. Schmidt Elementary, East Olympia Elementary and Littlerock Elementary on an as-needed basis.
Every month, SROs collect data and send it to the Tumwater School District. The data Bogatin presented reflects activity from September 2024 through June 2025.
For the specified period, there were a total of 149 student discipline referrals to SROs, including threat assessments and reentry meetings.
“When we talk about discipline referrals, this is around you've made a threat, (or) you have physically injured somebody,” Bogatin said.
SRO involvement only rises whenever a potential crime occurs, such as a sexual assault or possession of weapons.
The next aspect wherein SROs were mostly engaged in is student or parent reporting a concern, which had 100 occurrences.
The category includes, but is not limited to, self-harm, being alone or in danger or triggering child protective services.
“This relationship and partnership with the police department and our school district has really (helped) keep kids safe,” Bogatin said.
Enclosed in the meeting’s board packet were the first SRO contract from 2013, the expiring 2023–25 SRO contract, and the proposed 2026–28 SRO contract. The current contract expires in December.
Board members discussed the new contract, which is likely to be formally approved at a board meeting in August. The full cost for the SRO agreement is split between the city and school district.
“We pay for one, they pay for one — so that's sort of just how this agreement works,” Bogatin said.
The district will bear the expenses for base salary, premium pay and benefits for the Black Hills High School SRO, and any additional salary, wages or any other compensation will be covered by the city.
The school district is set to pay the city a total of $610,430 for the new contract, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
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