Township and School District Reach Agreement on School Resource Officer Funding

Bridgewater, NJ – At the Bridgewater Township Council meeting on Monday, October 5th, the Council passed a resolution which formalized an agreement between the Township and the Bridgewater-Raritan School District for cost sharing of the Police Department’s School Resource Officers (SRO). These are the officers that oversee the security of Bridgewater’s public schools and oversee the Class III Officers that are assigned to that detail.

“My hope is that the children of Bridgewater will be able to resume in-person instruction soon and when that happens, it is incumbent on us to provide a safe environment to do so,” said Mayor Matthew Moench. “I am pleased that we were able reach an arrangement that was fair and equitable and, most importantly, allow our children and parents to rest easy knowing that we will have some of our most capable police officers and supervisors are working hard to provide that security.”

“Providing for safety of the students in Bridgewater has, and will continue to be, of the highest priority to our Department,” said Police Chief Paul Payne. “The officers we have assigned to this detail care deeply about this community and they know that keeping students safe and providing sound, ethical leadership, will yield positive results for Bridgewater as a whole.”

Under this agreement, the Township Police Department provides two School Resource Officers (SRO) with the Township absorbing the entire costs for the officer with the highest salary. The second SRO will be paid for by the School District along with a percentage of a supervisor’s salary. In total, not including the dedicated Class III Officers, the Township will be covering approximately 63% of the cost to provide this critical service to Bridgewater’s public schools.