Committee recommends city accept $250,000 COMBAT grant to support school impact officers

The Finance & Budget Committee on Aug. 18 voted to recommend the City Council approve an ordinance authorizing a 2025–26 agreement with the COMBAT (Combat Drug Commission) program that would provide $250,000 to the City of Lee’s Summit.

Deputy John Bunker told the committee the grant funds will "primarily" cover four school impact officers and programs that were formerly part of DARE. The committee voted unanimously to forward the agreement to full council with a recommendation of approval.

Why it matters: The money supports officers who work inside schools on substance‑use prevention and related youth services, preserving staff positions that the police department said have been useful for school safety and youth engagement.

Committee action: A motion to forward TMP‑3414 — the ordinance approving the 2025–26 COMBAT agreement between the City of Lee's Summit and Jackson County — carried with the committee voting aye. The committee recorded aye votes from Chair Shields, Member Tim Lopez and Councilmember Funk and recommended council approval.

Next steps: The agreement will be presented to the full City Council for final action; the committee packet identified the agreement amount as $250,000 and said the funds are largely intended to cover the four impact officers and youth outreach programming.

No additional terms or vote amendments were made at the committee level.