Norwich - City officials have come up with a way to fund two school resource police officers in the city's middle schools for the coming year using school budget surplus money and partial funding from the city police department.

The Board of Education was poised to vote Aug. 27 on final budget changes that would have eliminated the two SROs in favor of hiring librarians and perhaps a teacher.

The cost of the two SROs is $191,149 for salaries and benefits for fiscal year 2013-14, and the city Police Department has proposed paying $41,149 of the cost.

Mayor Peter Nystrom said the new plan would take the $150,000 the Board of Education anticipates returning to the city in surplus funds from the 2012-13 fiscal year and using it to pay for the officers.

Nystrom credited City Manager Alan Bergren and city Corporation Counsel Michael Driscoll for the proposal.

"Looking at the issue, the SROs are very important," Nystrom said, "and this is our way of addressing it."

The City Council on Monday will schedule a public hearing for Sept. 3 on the proposed ordinance outlining the plan. The council should be ready to vote that night, Nystrom said. Rather than turn over the money directly to the school board, the ordinance would place the SRO funding into the "non-departmental expensive contingency budget."

School starts Aug. 28 in Norwich, a week before the anticipated council vote. But School Business Administrator Athena Nagel said the officers likely would start in the schools on opening day.

"We're going to have to start the officers," Nagel said. "We're going to conduct business as is."

c.bessette@theday.com