Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 52. Sunrise is 5:27 and sunset is 8:16, for 14 hours, 49 minutes of daytime. The moon is in its third quarter with 50.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Common Council meets at 6 PM. (Please note the new start time.)
On this day in 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
Sometimes, despite one’s hopes, a decision goes from bad to worse. Whitewater finds herself in an unnecessary conflict over the Whitewater Unified School District’s decision to pursue an out-of-community school resource officer. Instead of working for a resolution within the community, the school district continues along an impractical course.
This post updates the controversy in three parts: (1) events previously, (2) events subsequent to FREE WHITEWATER‘s last post on the subject from 5.6.25, and (3) where matters stand presently.
Previously: In the spring, a dispute arose from the Whitewater Unified School District about the long-standing arrangement with the Whitewater Police Department for a school resource officer. At the time, one sensible option was a contract extension of the existing agreement until various concerns could be addressed. See Discussion of Whitewater’s School Resource Officer Merits a 120-Day Contract Extension, FREE WHITEWATER, 4.30.25.
Events moved quickly, and the City of Whitewater then proposed an amended contract. See More on a Whitewater School Resource Officer, FREE WHITEWATER, 5.1.25.
Either an extension or an amended contract were good options for Whitewater.
On 5.6.25, in the early afternoon, a joint press release from the Whitewater School Board president and the Whitewater Common Council president offered hope that a resolution would be forthcoming. See Update on School Resource Officer Discussions Between the Whitewater School District and the City of Whitewater, FREE WHITEWATER, 5.6.25.
Subsequently (after my 5.6 post): The Whitewater Common Council met on the evening of 5.6, and Whitewater’s police chief presented on his perspective for a school resource officer. See Whitewater Common Council Video, 5.6.25, YouTube @ 51.21.
City officials and school board members then met on 5.16, only for city officials to report that the meeting revealed that (1) the school board did not even discuss the City of Whitewater’s proposed contract extension, (2) the school board did not see a letter from Whitewater Police Chief Meyer about the SRO position, (3) the district rushed ahead with a request-for-proposal for an SRO without informing city officials, and (4) city representatives learned at that 5.16.25 meeting that an unnamed private entity had already received the request-for-proposal and intended to respond, even before the RFP was published with an issue date of 5.19.25.
The 5.16 meeting between district and city officials also revealed that the school board discussed purported grievances concerning the program at a 4.28.25 closed session of the board, but apparently only related the full list of concerns at the 5.16.25 meeting. If the grievances were genuinely serious, then the district administration should have conveyed all of them sooner. See Whitewater Common Council Packet, Section on School Resource Officer, 5.20.25.
Presently:
Of fundamentals: This is not an issue merely of left, center, or right. It’s a transcending issue of open government and practical public safety.
Of responsibility: The City of Whitewater and the Whitewater Unified School District are not equally responsible for this impasse. It is the WUSD that has walked away from a long-standing partnership. These are not simply two quarreling parties; this is not simply a battle of press releases.
Of public issues, public employees, at public expense: There are no private parties here (unless the WUSD presumes to hire a security guard to protect Whitewater’s school children). We are all members of the same community (unless the WUSD presumes that an outside agency would serve better than our own local police force).
This is not a matter for a mere 15 of 15,000 residents in the city; it is not a matter for a mere 22 of 22,000 residents across the entire district. It’s a matter for all of us.
In any event, the students, parents, and residents of this district are owed an open accounting of the conduct of their public schools. If this is too hard for some, then they should return to (or remain in) private life.
Of wandering: This district is now in the position of a group of hikers, where one leads the others into becoming lost in the woods. Rather than find their way back with a map and compass, or staying put until help arrives, they wander only farther off the path, and farther from home.
Of solutions: The City of Whitewater has a sound, defensible position. The most important question in any dispute is whether one is sound in one’s views. If so, then the primary justification for defending a position has been met. While everyone should hope for a resolution, it’s sensible for the city to explore calmly and thoroughly all its options, including legal recourse.
The Whitewater Unified School District, through its board, should abandon an outside request-for-proposal, and negotiate with the city and her police force for a new contract before the current contract’s expiration on 6.30.25. Alternatively, the district’s board should approve an extension of the existing contract until a new district administration can consider matters.
The Whitewater School Board would do well by this community to work with Whitewater’s police force, come to a resolution, and thereafter concentrate on the important work of students’ education. Our district should be looking forward to students’ and teachers’ work under a new superintendent. That important work will happen here, in this community. It serves no positive purpose for students or families to be distracted and diverted from that educational mission. A departing district employee should not be their focus.
Our board’s obligations are to Whitewater’s students, Whitewater’s parents, and Whitewater’s residents. We, here, are their neighbors, friends, and constituents.
As before, indeed, more than ever: discussions between the parties should strive to achieve an agreement between Whitewater’s schools and the city’s police department as promptly as possible.