A month after the school budget was approved, Mayor Dana L. Redd rehired 74 officers through state and federal grants.
Though the shortage of police is no longer a concern for the district, School Board President Susan Dunbar-Bey said the board should pay its fair share.
"We've always had police in our schools," she said. "Only difference was, we didn't have the shared costs."
A week into the new academic year, the school board and city have not finalized a shared-services agreement to pay for the officers.
"It's in limbo," Dunbar-Bey said.
The city, which would provide the police, and the district have discussed details of the plan and have differing explanations for the delay.
The board is awaiting a final proposal from the city, Dunbar-Bey said.
"We gave all the necessary information to the board. We will reach out again to make sure they have all the requested information," city spokesman Robert Corrales said Monday via e-mail.
Security in the city's 26 schools is being handled by more than 100 unarmed security guards. Camden police are available on an "as-needed basis," district security director Gaylen Conley said.
Conley declined to comment on the pending police contract.
The number of police officers assigned to schools has fluctuated from about a dozen four years ago to hardly any two years ago, said John Williamson, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police lodge.
Redd advocated increasing the number of police officers in schools when she took office last year, Williamson said.
Five Camden police officers and one sergeant are assigned to full-time school duty, about the same as last year, Williamson said. They rotate among all the schools during the day, with their primary focus on Camden and Woodrow Wilson High Schools.
The plan to pay for Camden police could bump the number up by one or two officers.
