The Habersham County Board of Education will consider paying 100% for the school resource officer (SRO) program during their board meeting on Monday.
The program has been funded by, both, the Board of Education and the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office for several years. This year, during the county’s budget hearings, it was announced that the program would be fully funded by the school board for the upcoming fiscal year.
Last year, the Board of Education paid for 80% of the program with the remaining 20% coming from the Sheriff’s Office budget.
Assistant School Superintendent Patrick Franklin explained to the school board during the work session Thursday afternoon that they had received a contract where the school board would pay 100% of the SRO program.
Franklin explained that the program is prorated by the number of officers that are on staff. The cost for a fully staffed program would be $1,103,397. That would include 14 SROs and the Director of School Safety. Currently, that cost is in the neighborhood of $500,297. The program currently has nine SROs and the Director of School Safety.
He explained how the program would be funded. “We would utilize safety funds that came in on QBE for that,” Franklin told the board members. He explained that those funds could be used for other safety items but “at this point, those funds could pay for the SRO contract.”
The board members agreed to place the item on the agenda for Monday’s board meeting. The board is expected to take action on the SRO contract during that meeting.
