GREECE, N.Y. — The union representing the Greece Police Department is speaking out after negotiations over the cost of school resource officers failed between the town and the school district.

The Greece Central School District wants to increase school resource officer coverage from four days a week to five with the Greece Uniformed Patrolmen's Association saying it has never been more important to have officers in schools.

The district planned for an extra day of service in the coming school year, increasing its resource officer budget from $190,000 to $240,000. However, the town says it will cost more than $100,000 on top of that.

In a statement, the district said in part:

"Without negotiation or prior notice, we were informed this week that town leaders would accept no less than $350,000 for two SROs. That price includes some additional coverage over the summer - something we do not need, nor did we request. We have done everything possible to resolve this issue behind the scenes, including agreeing to raise our contribution to $280,000, but we cannot in good faith move forward with the contract as it stands. The $350,000 price tag proposed by town leaders is $100,000 more than any other school district in our region pays for the same SRO coverage."

The town of Greece responded by saying since 2009, the contracts have increased to cover costs of personnel, health care, and salaries based on a 12-month per year officer contract.

Town officials refute the claim that there was no notice and in a statement said in part:

"The notion that there was no notice is ludicrous. The chief had initial contact with the security director on July 6 regarding the upcoming year’s contract. The chief requested the word version of the contract to begin calculating the costs on July 8. The secretary from the office did not provide the document to the chief until July 29. We worked with our labor attorney and finance department and delivered the completed contract to the security director on August 9. The chief met with the security director on August 10 after his outreach. So the notion there has not been any contact is false.

"What they are requesting is actually a return to prior contracts and commitments. We gave them the cost for the service and they are not pleased. In June, we saw that the district committed $98,000 to student cell phone pouches, the argument could be made either way if this was a measure to ensure health and safety or not, but that price tag signaled a significant commitment and a decision in which they made a priority budgeting choice."

The district has launched a public feedback campaign calling on families to contact the town about the district's need for Monday - Friday officer coverage on campus at the cost it planned for.

Greece CSD leaders say they have begun conversations with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and outside security contractors to provide the services if necessary. However, they say they do not want to terminate their relationship with the Greece Police Department.