The 20-minute election night meeting featured a presentation from Officer Stephanie Green, who was accompanied by Lakeport Unified School District Superintendent Erin Hagberg.
“School board meetings do not go this quickly, I'll have you know,” Hagberg joked.
Hagberg told the council that the school district board recently honored Lakeport Police for its work with the district.
“We cannot say enough good things about them,” she said, additionally thanking the council for continuing its support of the school resource officer program.
Hagberg said the district has budgeted $25,000 a year for the position, with the city adding another $5,000 to cover expenses such as training.
While the school district has an excellent safety record, Hagberg explained that it's also a microcosm of the larger community, with some of the same challenges – among them thefts, vandalism and parental custody issues.
Green helps deal with those issues. Also, “She serves as a deterrent,” Hagberg said.
“On the positive side, she serves as a role model for our kids,” said Hagberg. “We cannot say enough about her.”
Green told the council, “Security and safety is No. 1 on my campus,” noting that she's taken ownership of the schools she serves, from elementary to high school.
She agreed with Hagberg that it is a microcosm. “It is a mirror of the community.”
Green said in her work she offers children resources, including an ear to listen to their problems.
Her duties include law enforcement, student counseling and teaching children about the dangers fo drugs.
School resource officers have been around since the 1960s, but the officers became more about protection in the 1990s due to school shootings that took place at the time.
“It is of course a collaborative effort,” said Green, noting that it wouldn't work without support from the community, parents, the police department, the city council and the school district.
Green said bullying is the No. 1 issue at the campus, and her presence is meant as a deterrent.
Last year police handled more than 200 calls for services, relating to custody disputes, traffic issues, petty theft, vandalism, bullying and drugs on campus, Green said. Sixty percent of the calls came from Clear Lake High School, 30 percent from Terrace Middle School, with the rest coming from Natural High School, the community school and Lakeport Elementary.
She said during that time there also were 29 arrests on campus.
Green received a round of applause from the community members in the chamber at the end of her presentation.
Mayor Jim Irwin asked her if she had any funny stories about working with the children, or any of them trying to pull tricks on her.
Green replied that she actually finds the children very friendly toward her. “They're all very highly supportive.”
She said they will walk and talk with her at lunchtime, and she even takes the time to play basketball with them on occasion.
“They're very open to having a police officer on campus,” she said, adding that she's had female students come up to her and ask about becoming police officers.
Hagberg said Green has an exceptional relationship with the district's children, who know she means business.
Pointing to Green in her tailored gray suit and heels – not a police uniform – Hagberg said, “She does not typically look like this when she's on our campus.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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