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When the Milwaukee Public Schools Board decided to spend $1 million to increase safety in its schools last month, Eighth District Alderman Bob Donovan thought the plan was vague at best.

Donovan sent a letter to Superintendent William Andrekopoulos Oct. 26, calling Andrekopoulos's ideas "shortsighted" and a waste of taxpayer money.

"That money would be better used for more police officers who would be specifically assigned to patrol the schools," Donovan wrote.

The decision may be closer than Donovan believed, however, as MPS officials and the Milwaukee Police Department met with Mayor Tom Barrett Wednesday.

"This is an ongoing discussion," said Eileen Force, spokeswoman for the mayor's office, after the meeting. "This is more layered than just putting more cops in schools."

According to Donovan, MPD currently has a group of officers – one or two from each district – who are dispatched to schools when problems arise.

But too many officers are being taken off the streets and sent to schools because in-school security is ill-equipped to handle serious problems; security aides at public schools do not have the authority to carry weapons or make arrests, Donovan said.

Donovan also called for school officers to become regular beat officers patrolling streets and parks during the summer months when school is not in session.

After reading Donovan's letter, Andrekopoulos noted that although the letter contained inaccuracies, the idea was not bad.

"We've been wanting to do a couple of things," said Roseann St. Aubin, communications director for MPS. "No. 1 on our list is beefing up security."

According to St. Aubin, MPS and MPD have been working together since last year on ways to involve police in schools.

"The chief and the superintendent speak frequently," said Anne E. Schwartz, spokeswoman for MPD. "MPD and MPS have a great working relationship."

But Schwartz also said the police department would need to see a more finalized plan before commenting.

While MPS welcomes suggestions and attention, St. Aubin said Donovan's idea is incomplete. The $1 million was not taken from other programs funded by taxpayers.

"Basically this is one government entity telling another government entity how to spend its money," St. Aubin said.

Foremost in MPS officials' minds is who will pay the officers to remain in the schools, even when the $1 million has dried up.

Donovan is leaving the answer to that question up to MPS and the mayor's office. He said plenty of cities around the country use police liaison programs and Milwaukee should look to them for guidance.

The Madison, Minneapolis, Chicago and Indianapolis public school systems all use liaison officers.

The Minneapolis program, in place since 1966, has had great luck with liaison officers, according to Randy Johnson, director of safety and security for Minneapolis Public Schools. The Minneapolis system receives $27 per student from the state to use for security purposes.

"I think the police in the school have provided a sense of security for our students, families and staff. I think they are a visible deterrent to crimes of harm," said Bill Smith, principal at Minneapolis Southwest High School in an e-mail. "If a police officer in the building deterred one person or kept one of our students safe, then it is all worth it."

Any plan would have to win the approval of the MPS' board before any further steps are taken, St. Aubin said.

But according to St. Aubin, if all goes well and the school board approves the plan, a pilot program could be in place by the start of the 2007-'08 school year.

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