In the end, leaders decided to pay half of the salary for the officers at a cost of about $900,000 annually, which will be phased in over the next three years. That cost will cover $30,000 per officer.

Originally, municipal police districts wanted the schools to pay for the entire cost of officers' salaries and equipment at a cost of more than $1.5 million annually.

Much of the board's discussion revolved around the fact that most of the officers will only be in the schools for the nine-month school year. Superintendent Barry Newbold said district leaders decided to pay for half of an entire year's salary because schools often "have a lot of follow-up that occurs from the officers on issues during the summer."

Newbold added the new budget policy was finalized in a public vote Jan. 16 and has already been implemented.

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com; bwinslow@desnews.com