New Providence will station three school law enforcement officers in its public schools under a three-year agreement the Borough Council approved Aug. 11.
The deal between the borough and the New Providence Board of Education (BOE) runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029, and carries an estimated annual price tag of about $180,000. The borough and the BOE split each officer's compensation 50/50, according to the agreement NJ21st first reported after obtaining it through an Open Public Records Act request.
The agreement itself was not attached to the Aug. 11 Borough Council agenda, a gap NJ21st flagged that night. The agenda listed a vote on a shared-services agreement for school officers but did not include the document for public review. The council's individual vote tally was not included in public records.
Cost breakdown
A CFO worksheet the borough provided to NJ21st breaks down the cost. Each officer works 183 days at eight hours per day, totaling 1,464 hours annually. At $38 per hour, the rate set in the borough's 2026 salary resolution for Special Police Officer II and III positions, annual wages come to $55,632 per officer. Add $4,256 per officer in employer FICA contributions, and the gross cost for all three officers reaches $179,664.
The CFO worksheet puts the 50-percent share at $89,832. But the borough budgeted only $87,000 as the estimated BOE reimbursement. That is a gap of $2,832.
The borough told NJ21st the $87,000 figure represented "approximately half of the total Borough cost." No public explanation for the difference has been offered.
Who pays for what
The borough remains the officers' employer under the agreement. Training and uniform costs are split equally. The BOE is separately responsible for other school security equipment and supplies, though the agreement does not spell out those costs.
BOE vote still pending
The BOE had not approved the agreement as of Aug. 28. No date for a BOE vote has been announced.
NJ21st reporter John Migueis, who obtained the agreement through OPRA, wrote Aug. 28 that once the document was produced, "it can also incentivize towns just to put out the document in the first place."
The Board of Education had not scheduled a vote on the agreement as of Aug. 28.
