By Matt Mackinder
Clarkston News Editor

INDEPENDENCE TWP. — At the Sept. 19 regular meeting of the Independence Township Board of Trustees, discussion took place regarding the township’s sheriff’s substation having a police presence at Everest Collegiate High School and Academy.
Township Supervisor Jose Aliaga said Everest is proposing paying 80% of a deputy’s salary and the township paying the other 20% for the nine months that school is in session. The deputy would be used for township services when school is not in session during the school year, said Aliaga.
The motion to explore the option was passed unanimously by the board.
“It would be the same as it is for Clarkston Community Schools,” said Lt. Rich Cummins, substation commander. “Once the school year is over, they come back to the substation and I can utilize them for whatever I want – traffic officer, detective, anything I need. These officers would be added to the standard schedule of officers.”
“Everest Collegiate High School and Academy is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for its students, faculty, staff, and families,” added Everest President Michael Nalepa. “In conjunction with valuable feedback from our families, we have worked for years with experts in the field from the sheriff’s office, fire department, homeland security, and other consultants to improve our security. We continue to explore actively any available resources to help increase campus safety.”
Township Treasurer Paul Brown asked about officers’ time off routines.
“When we have liaison officers at the school, and I don’t know how much time off officers receive, but I’m guessing they don’t take a lot of their time off during the school year,” said Brown. “Do they take more in the summer?”
“That’s correct, Paul,” said Cummins.
“My concern is that we’re going to pay for 20% of their time and they’re going to be off most of the time on vacation most of the summer, which is a bit of a problem because, and my question for our legal counsel is if we don’t really get the full benefit out of what that payment is, are we not subsidizing a private entity, and is that legal?” Brown responded. “If we can figure out a way around that, OK, but to pay the 20% and they’ll be off half the summer, we’re really paying for something we don’t get, which is money we’re spending that we wouldn’t spend otherwise.”
Township attorney Dan Kelly said that it would be for a private entity but that it’s also public safety.
“Even though it’s for a private entity, it’s not just for the benefit of the private entity, it’s a benefit for the public in terms of public safety. I might have to look at this, but I know in other communities we represent we have approved private school districts,” Kelly explained.
As a side note, Aliaga noted at the meeting that Cummins recently told him Independence Township is the 17th-safest township in Michigan, up from previous rankings of No. 21 and No. 20. The source of the ranking is SafeWise.com, an online research company that provides tools and information to help make people and communities safer.
“I want to be proactive and not reactive,” said Aliaga. “I have to present this to you (board of trustees) and make this decision. It’s important for the safety, you know?”
An Everest representative, Ryan Stacey, a parent who is working with school leadership on this initiative, spoke at the meeting and said the summer vacation schedule is “completely overcomeable.”
“Everest Academy would be open to taking on a percentage of actual hours worked versus vacation time,” Stacey said. “I think my experience with Everest is there is a lot of time off around Thanksgiving and Christmas and a lot of opportunities for deputies. I don’t think many deputies would pile it all on in the summer, maybe they would, but I know a lot of guys deer hunt and enjoy things during the school year as well. However that washes out, we wouldn’t expect the township to subsidize Everest to that degree.”
Township Clerk Cari Neubeck asked Stacey how many Everest students reside in Independence Township.
“We have 460-plus students ranging from Pre-K through high school and I imagine that the breakdown demographically would be 80-plus%, just based on friends and the experience I’ve had being an Everest parent for 20 years,” Stacey said. “I would say a solid 80% would be Independence residents.”
Stacey added that Everest did approach the sheriff’s office previously but that “it became obvious that due to changes at the county board of commissioners that the best way to accomplish this would be to go through the township.”
“Did it break down? No,” said Stacey. “We were never presented a contract from the county board of commissioners that we could vote on.”
Brown chimed in saying that a similar agreement is in place at Notre Dame Prep, which was approved by the county board of commissioners through the county sheriff’s office that is in place for the current 2023-24 school year.
As far as cost, Cummins said the position would go under “patrol investigator” and said a “guesstimate” is $150,000 per year plus use of a police car.
“Everybody needs a cop at a school, if we can afford it,” said Township Trustee Sam Moraco. “And we’d get to use them during Christmas break and spring break and they’re not taking time off. We get them during those breaks and weekends and Everest is paying, correct?”
“Correct,” Cummins said.
“So we get a little bit more benefit than just the summer,” Moraco said. “(The liaison) is under (the substation’s) control and delegated to the school?”
“Correct,” Cummins said.
As far as the 80-20 payment split, Brown suggested tracking the officer’s actual hours worked for the township and Everest and maybe the split changes and then who pays how much is adjusted. Cummins agreed.
“I believe this is about safety more than anything else,” Aliaga said. “We have to look at it that way, too. Every time I look at the national news, we see a lot of incidents going on. We are the 17th-safest township in Michigan and it’s important to keep it that way.”

PHOTO: Everest students gather for the annual senior seminar for the Class of 2024, appropriately titled “The Time Is Now,” which was held on campus the second week of September. Photo: Provided by Mary Roselli