I have read through the Memorandum of Understanding a few times now, and while I am not a lawyer, I see nothing in it (at least as it currently exists) that would cover the proposed expansion of the program.
According to section IV.A.1 of the memorandum,
The Greenfield Police Department will select and assign one (1) full time law enforcement officer to serve as an SRO at Greenfield High School;
Later in the memorandum (Section VIII, “DURATION AND MODIFICATION OF AGREEMENT”) we have the following:
This Agreement shall become effective on 1/18/17 and shall remain in full force and effect until such time as the Agreement is modified by the consent of the parties. The Agreement may be modified at any time by an amendment to the Agreement. The parties will meet annually to review and, if necessary, modify and approve this Agreement.
Again, I am not a lawyer, but by my reading, it would seem that since the SRO program structure (including the specific number of officers) is specified in the memorandum, any changes to the number of officers would need to be agreed to by all the parties, including the Greenfield Public Schools and the Greenfield School Committee.
According to Greenfield Police Chief Robert Haigh, however, because the MOU refers to “officers,” the intent was to govern usage of SROs regardless of their number, and that it is his prerogative how to allocate his people and budget. I have requested further clarification from the Chief on this point.
Another item worth noting from the MOU is in Section VII (“PROGRAM ASSESSMENT”):
The School Resource Officer Program will be assessed annually prior to the close of the school year and the evaluation will be conducted jointly between the Greenfield Police Department and the Greenfield Public Schools by the School/Police Collaboration Team jointly established by the Superintendent and Chief of Police.
I have asked the Mayor’s office who is on that Collaboration Team, whether an assessment was conducted at the end of the 2016/17 school year, and if so, what the outcome of that assessment was. I am currently awaiting a reply.