(Forsyth County, GA) Forsyth County schools are planning to add six more School Resource Officers (SRO) this year.
During the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners (BOC) Work Session meeting on Tuesday, March 7, the BOC approved an intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) to add six SRO positions for the school district.
The salary and benefits of the six SROs would be fully funded by the school district.
Sheriff Ron Freeman said the request came after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24 of last year.
Currently, schools with joint-campuses might only have one SRO.
“The Board of Education and myself made a decision,” Freeman said. “We’re not only going to have one or two [SROs] at every school, we're no longer going to do joint campuses, we're going to have literally one on every campus.”
While the current agreement between the FCSO and the school board is that both departments would fund 50 percent each for the cost of an SRO, these six positions would be funded 100 percent by the school board.
Including these six new positions, there are 55 SROs in Forsyth County schools.
The BOC will have to give their final approval at the next BOC meeting on March 16. Once approved, the contract will go into effect this June.
The full March 7 BOC Work Session meeting can be viewed at forsythco.com/meetings.
If you have a news tip in Forsyth County, contact Justine Lookenott at justine.lookenott@newsbreak.com.
Comments / 1