Police Push Back On Bensalem School Resource Officer Costs

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA — Public Safety Director William McVey is calling out the Bensalem Township School Board for statements made during a school budget meeting that “were misleading and created confusion" about how school resource officers are funded.

In a letter to School Board President Deborah King, McVey stated that the township and school district have had a partnership through the school resource officer, or SRO, program since 1999.

McVey is asking the Bensalem School District to correct the public record after statements by school board members at a school budget session last Tuesday.

McVey disputed comments attributed to school board members Rodger Allen, Leann Hart, and Vice President Stephanie Gonzalez Ferrandez, and asked that “the record be clarified at your next public meeting so the citizens of Bensalem know the truth.”

"Unfortunately, statements made during the budget work session do not accurately reflect our long-standing relationship or the SRO program," McVey said about the comments regarding the SRO program and related expenses.

Board members discussed $500,000 in fees that they pay annually to the township for services, including crossing guards, SROs, and fire inspections.

The conversation mainly focused on the two middle school
SRO positions, with statements indicating there may be cuts, McVey said.

The school board voted on Wednesday to eliminate 31 staffing positions in the 2026-2027 school budget to reduce a "severe financial crisis."

McVey said the township remains committed to the SRO program and said reducing or eliminating it “would have a negative impact on student safety and the broader community.”

McVey said the high school SRO position began under a two-year grant and that, after the grant expired in 2001, the township funded the high school SRO program 100 percent, at no cost to the school district.

Over 25 years, the letter says, that investment has exceeded $5 million, McVey said.

Police said the program later expanded to the middle schools in 2018 and again in 2023, bringing the total to three full-time SROs.

According to the letter, the agreements for the two middle school SROs are each structured over 10 years, with the school district funding three years of an officer’s salary over a six-year period while the township covers the remaining costs.

The letter states that one of those positions has now been paid in full by the district, with no future payments required, and that the district’s remaining obligation is roughly half of one officer’s salary for the rest of the agreement.

The letter also says the township is covering about 14 years of salary costs across the two agreements, valued at about $3 million, without reimbursement from the district.

It states that the township also pays overtime when SROs handle incidents beyond the school day.

“These are not minor contributions; they represent a significant and ongoing financial and operational commitment to the School District,” the letter says.

McVey also wrote that “Since 2023, over 1,500 documented police incidents have occurred” in schools, and said those incidents are in addition to “thousands of positive interactions” between students and officers.

Beyond the SRO program, the letter says the township fully funds D.A.R.E. in all elementary schools at an average annual cost of about $40,000 since state funding ended around 2010.