Despite being urged by parents and other stakeholders to focus funding for school security only on armed trained officers, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has once announced additional funding for counselors, social workers, and armed officers.
Approximately $39.4 million of the funding will pay for 198 School Resource Officers or School Safety Officers and $8.5 million will pay for 66 new counselor or social worker positions.
Horne’s office will release nearly $48 million in accumulated school safety funding to schools that request armed campus officers, counselors, and social workers. In compliance with state law, all requests for law enforcement officers are granted with remaining monies used for counselor and social workers.
The additional monies come from a buildup of dollars that the Department of Education had granted to schools but were not fully utilized resulting in a carryover from year to year. The State Board of Education, which includes Superintendent Horne, voted on Monday to release those carryover funds so schools can apply for them.
“It is unfortunate that in some cases, previously granted dollars were not utilized because of the ongoing shortage of law enforcement officers in many communities,” stated Horne. “In most cases where there has not been a single full time law enforcement officer available, the position was filled by multiple officers rotating overtime on their day off to ensure coverage for the full school week. Of course, we cannot afford to allow this vital funding to go unused, which means schools should contact the Department immediately to participate in this program.”
“Making sure schools have armed officers on campus to protect students, educators and staff is one of my highest priorities. The sad reality is that we must ensure that if an armed maniac attacks a campus, there is a trained law enforcement officer on site to respond,” said Horne.
Resource Officers are assigned to a campus on a full-time basis. Safety Officers utilize multiple personnel to ensure full-time coverage of a campus.
