The Vista Unified School Board of Trustees voted on June 23, 2022 to reinstate the School Resource Officer (SRO) positions to the school district. This move was the culmination of the School Board’s promise just a few years ago to reinstate the SRO positions as soon as the district was able to stabilize the budget. The SRO positions were one of many positions temporarily reduced in the fall of 2019 in order to close nearly a $19 million budget deficit. The School Board worked carefully over the course of multiple meetings to review all aspects of the budget, listen to members of the community, and, ultimately, make difficult budget adjustments in order to balance the budget. The budget challenges were caused by a combination of declining enrollment and a dramatic escalation in the required contribution to employee pensions. This budget impact was felt by districts across the county and state. As a result of the careful work of the School Board, Vista Unified has maintained a positive certification on the budget for three years. Members of the school board voted to reinstate the SRO positions as one of many components of the districtwide health and safety plan.
It makes me proud to announce that we were able to work as a board to build a very strong budget that positioned us to reinstating our School Resource Officers to campuses in Vista. The SRO positions will work closely with expanded campus security staff to implement a comprehensive school health and safety plan on every campus in the district.
Cipriano Vargas, Board President
The school district is now finalizing the SRO agreements with both the Vista Sheriff and Oceanside Police. Both departments are in the hiring process for the SRO positions. Vista Unified will have four SRO positions, one stationed at each high school and one to support middle schools. In the meantime, Vista Unified is working closely with both law enforcement agencies to ensure that all our schools have the support they need to keep students and staff safe.
