Skokie’s renewed police-school agreement includes more reporting requirements, in wake of teacher investigation

The Skokie Village Board voted unanimously on Monday to renew its contract to keep police stationed in local Niles Township High School District 219 buildings, an agreement that reportedly contained updates concerning arrest and reporting procedures in schools.

The “comprehensive update” to Skokie’s intergovernmental agreement with D219 reflects “current law and the present responsibilities” of school resource officers and it “does not represent a significant departure” from practices already in place, according to a village memo.

“Rather, (the IGA) formalizes those practices, incorporates new statutory requirements, and provides a clearer and more comprehensive framework” for the school resource officer program in compliance with recent amendments to Illinois School Code, village documents say. 

Those amendments, which the state legislature approved last year, include requiring school districts to annually report the number of students referred to law enforcement, to create a “memorandum of understanding” with local police, and refrain from fining students as a disciplinary measure. 

Ahead of approving the school district’s end of the IGA during an Aug. 4 board of education meeting, Deputy Superintendent Roszena Haskins said the new contract aligns with the district’s priorities — particularly “student well-being, district accountability and cohesion and family engagement” — but outlined key updates to their agreement with Skokie police. 

Reporting Offenses 

The updated IGA between D219 and Skokie police enshrines “reciprocal reporting” measures that direct both police and school officials to share information with each other.

“The key enhancement that we wanted to underscore is the strengthened communication and accountability through required reporting of all staff misconduct or criminal activity to superintendent or designee,” said Haskins, who is set to become D219’s superintendent next year. 

As The Record previously reported, federal authorities arrested a Niles North teacher named Thomas Neal in June after he allegedly possessed and attempted to transport child sexual abuse material to Mexico.

An anonymous tipster tried to warn the district about Neal in 2023, but local police could not substantiate those allegations, an investigation showed. 

In an email to the D219 community last month, School Board President Amber Wood said the school district did not conduct its own internal investigation into Neal because the 2023 tip about Neal was not communicated to the superintendent or human resources. 

“The 2023 incident with Thomas Neal shines a light on communication silos that I believe are being addressed with this MOU (memorandum of understanding) by providing a close-the-loop concept,” Wood said during the August board meeting. 

 “I am thankful to the Skokie PD for being supportive of this shift and mandating that all criminal incidental findings be reported to the superintendent.”

Notably, the state legislature also added a requirement for SRO programs to have a “parent-teacher advisory committee to develop policy guideline procedures to establish and maintain a reciprocal reporting system between the school district and local law enforcement agencies regarding both criminal and civil offenses” committed by students, the bill shows. 

Oversight 

The IGA shows the Skokie Police Department will assign an officer to both the Niles North and Niles West high schools and, as needed, the Niles Central campus to promote security and “facilitate a more personal relationship between law enforcement agents and students”.

Both parties, the IGA says, “recognize that disciplining students for violations of the Student Code of Conduct is appropriate for School District Officials to manage” and whether to investigate or charge a student for criminal violations lies within the Skokie police’s authority.

The Skokie Police Department will also have access to surveillance cameras at both Niles North and Niles West, but the village “recognizes the responsibility and authority” of school district officials to “manage the educational environment,” the IGA states. 

Haskins, who is set to become D219’s superintendent next year, emphasized on Aug. 4. that the updated IGA “prioritize alternatives to arrest whenever legally permissible and appropriate while maintaining the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and school community.” 

Haskins also said D219 staff have “started the conversation to establish targeted goals and an annual review and evaluation process” of the SRO program and are collaborating with the Skokie Police Department to create more “clear specific targeted goals and metrics.”

‘Student-first’

Village Manager John Lockeby said on Aug. 17 that D219 requested the SRO program and has maintained its request for Skokie police since first entering into an IGA with Skokie in 2004. 

“I just wanted to make sure that any parent who’s listening knows some of the details,” Trustee Gail Schechter said of the IGA on Aug. 17 after pulling it off the meeting’s consent agenda.

“For example, if the student is, if something happens, students are not just whisked out of the school, right? I mean, just reading some of this, it looks like there has to be parental notification or something from the school accompanies the child.”

Mayor Ann Tennes encouraged parents interested in the IGA to read it online and celebrated the collaboration between the Village and school district. 

Wood said on Aug. 4 that her personal interactions with one of the district’s SROs have “always been incredibly respectful,” but emphasized the need to have a school resource officer program that is governed by systems and policies instead of individual good people.

“I struggle to believe that an educational environment is meant for police officers,” Wood said. 

“Now, D219 has come a long way from when I started on the board three years ago when safety personnel were referred to as security officers and when I wondered aloud: Are safety concerns for who we are keeping in or who we are keeping out?

“Now there is a student-first, student-focused presence of safety personnel, not security officers. Our next step is to work with the SRO program to establish clear goals for the program.”

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