D.C. School Private-Security Costs High May 3, 2004
News Summary
Although it has fewer students than other large urban school districts in the country, the D.C. Public Schools system pays more per student for private security guards, the Washington Times reported April 26.According to school records, it costs $15.2 million per year for security officers to patrol D.C. public schools, three times as much as the Baltimore school system, which pays $4.7 million per year. The District has 32,000 fewer students than Baltimore.
The security cost per student in the District also tops the Philadelphia and Dallas school districts.
"To use private security to provide day-to-day security functions is highly unusual," said Kenneth Trump, president of the Ohio-based consulting firm National School Safety and Security Services. Unlike D.C., Trump said, most large, urban public-school districts use their own security staff or fund a police department that operates within the school system. Few rely solely on private security forces.
"I can't think of another district in the country that handles security the way the District of Columbia does," Trump said. "There are a number of security staffing concerns associated with a private contractor, including high turnover, low pay, low morale, and limited training."
The D.C. school system is considering changing its arrangements after Mayor Anthony Williams urged school officials to hand over oversight of school security to the Metropolitan Police Department.
COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE: