KING CITY — The City Council of King has approved a memorandum of understanding with County of Monterey, South Monterey County Joint Union High School and King City Union School District to hire a campus-based probation officer at a city council meeting on April 25.
According to City Manager Steve Adams hiring a campus-based probation officer was a high priority item recommended by the committee behind the Comprehensive Plan to End Youth Violence.
“There are a couple of advantages we found to working with the Probation Department for an on-campus officer rather than a police officer,” Adams said. “The probation officer will be dedicated specifically to the schools and the youth involved at the schools. The probation officer is very tied into the County Social Services.”
One of the key goals of the probation officer will be to not only work with troubled youth on probation but also working with the all the youth at the schools. The probation officer’s role will also include identifying potential problems with youth early and be proactive to cut those off.
“When we talked to the Probation Department, both School Districts, everyone seemed to have a great interest in doing this,” Adams said.
The idea ran into problems when it came to the money and the four organizations decided that it was more practical to share the costs between all four.
Two-thirds of the time the Probation Officer will be at the King City High School and one-third of the time he or she will be on the Chalone Peaks Middle School campus. Adams said that if situations arose or the probation officer needed to divide up their time differently, they could.
The County Probation Officer would start work over the summer and be prepared for the upcoming school year.
The MOU has already been approved by the South Monterey County Joint Union High School District and the King City Union School District and was unanimously passed by the King City Council.
