Sacramento police to remove school officers from Natomas Unified campuses
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- Sacramento police will end school resource officers services at Natomas Unified.
- Natomas Unified School District will create high-level safety jobs on campus.
- Police said patrol officers will continue respond to schools when needed.
The Sacramento Police Department starting in January will no longer assign school resource officers to the Natomas Unified School District, which will end a three-year, $2.1 million contract five months after it began.
Police officials said staffing shortages are forcing them to reassign these officers to patrol duty to meet the city’s needs. School district officials said they will be exploring other options to maintain a safe environment at its 16 campuses.
Last November, the Sacramento City Council authorized a new contract with Natomas Unified that began Aug. 1 and had been set to continue through June 30, 2028. The $2.1 million contract would fund three full-time equivalent police officer positions to be assigned as school resource officers at Natomas Unified schools.
There are currently three officers and one supervising sergeant assigned to Natomas Unified, according to the Police Department. The department doesn’t provide school resource officers to any other school district.
“Because of staffing challenges, we will be reassigning our school resource officers back to patrol in January to make sure we can meet emergency response needs citywide,” police officials said Thursday in a written statement sent to The Sacramento Bee. “Our relationship with the school district remains strong, and patrol officers will continue to respond to and support our schools when needed. We’re committed to keeping students and staff safe, working in partnership with the school district.”
Robyn Castillo, Natomas Unified’s superintendent, said the district has always supported having school resource officers, also referred to as SROs, on its campuses. Each SRO was assigned to one its high schools — Discovery High, Inderkum High and Natomas High — but the officers assist at the other campuses in the district when needed.
In a letter sent to the students’ families, Castillo said the district appreciates its long-standing partnership with the police SROs.
“Our SROs have developed proactive relationships with our students and staff and are always ready to assist and respond to safety concerns,” Castillo said in the letter. “We have created a new high-level school safety position to be assigned to each high school. Similar to the SROs, these individuals will be available to assist at any school in the district.”
The superintendent said district administrators have been working with its school leadership team and its Safety and Safe Schools Department to create a plan for “a smooth transition from SROs to our new safety staff.” Castillo said this safety staff’s primary job will be to handle complex safety, intervention and prevention duties at their assigned high schools and other Natomas Unified campuses.
The school district is recruiting qualified candidates for these safety jobs, which will be posted on its website. Castillo said the district will also increase the number of campus safety specialists at its middle and high schools for more adults to help maintain a safe environment, job listings that will also be posted soon on the district’s website.
“While this important work is being done to prepare for the transition, our existing safety measures will continue,” Castillo said in the letter. “All of these safety measures provide layers of protection for our students and staff when at NUSD school sites.”
