It was a busy day for city officials concerning the status of a Guthrie police officer, who is seeking election for Guthrie’s Board of Education.
Jennifer Bennett-Johnson, 44, and Jonathan “JW” Williams, 51, are running for the Ward 4 seat. The ward became open when current board member Orville Cornelius did not file for re-election.
All voters in the school district can vote for the four-year term.
In January, Williams told The Oklahoman he wanted to be a School Resource Officer (SRO), but later learned that he could not serve as a SRO and be a school board member.
City officials questioned the legal aspect after reading an article published on Guthrie News Page. The story was pulled in fairness to the unique situation.
According to city officials, Williams, a Guthrie police officer, was appointed to be a SRO by the City of Guthrie before he announced his intent to run for the school board with the Logan County Election Board. However, confusion then set in about the possible status of Williams being a school board member and a SRO at the same time.
Last July, the city and school district agreed to a contract that will pay for two SRO’s. The contract states the school district would pay the city $32,000 for each SRO for the nine months school is in session. With that, the city would then assign the SRO’s to the schools and not the school district themselves.
The school district will fund the two new SRO positions at a total cost to the city in the amount of $63,854.50 which includes a portion of the salary, uniform, training, insurance, pension, equipment and fuel.
That money is put into the city’s general fund and, therefore, Williams would be paid by the city and not the school district.
Both the city and the school district talked with their team of attorneys to finalize the confusion and ruling. School officials also spoke to the Oklahoma School Board Association and found no wrong with Williams running for the seat. However, the city could not determine a final resolution as of Monday afternoon.
“The City is waiting on interpretation of pertinent statues,” City Manager Sereniah Breland said in a message to Guthrie News Page.
One of the criteria’s that the City is looking is the municipality enforcement which states: Law enforcement officers employed by municipal or county law enforcement departments or agencies, other than those law enforcement officers elected or appointed as sheriff, chief of police, or some similar position in which they are the head of a county or municipal law enforcement agency, who are elected to local boards of education; provided the provisions of this paragraph shall not prohibit any law enforcement officer employed by a municipality having a population of ten thousand (10,000) or fewer people from serving as a member of a local board of education.
Williams, who has not been campaigning for the election, will still be on Tuesday’s ballot.
If the ruling declares Williams ineligible and he were to win the election, he would then need to resign his school board post to assume the duties of a SRO. With a resignation, the school board would then appoint the open seat.
Bennett-Johnson is a construction manager and is married to Sterling Johnson, owner of Patriot Industries, a Guthrie firearms business.
The polls will be open on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Still confusing!
If JW were to win (Yessss!), why wouldn’t he be able to retain position on the police force without doing the SRO and fulfill the school board position? Maybe I am still not understanding the problem! 🙁