Stephens Co. School System Considers Possibility of Third SRO

The Stephens County school system is considering trying to add a third School Resource Officer to the system.

School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey brought the idea to the Board of Education at its work session on Thursday night.

Dorsey said that he and the Sheriff’s Office have been talking about adding a third one that could help at various schools in the system.

“We are looking at the possibilities of what it would be to add a third SRO, whose primary responsibilities would be to float between our elementary schools,” said Dorsey.

Currently, one SRO is at the high school and a second is at the middle school.

He added a third person could provide support at any facility.

According to Dorsey, the school system is currently paying $72,000 for two school resource officers.

He said he would propose increasing the school system’s budget to $100,000 to add a third School Resource Officer.

Dorsey said that the school system currently pays 10 months of the cost for the officers and the Sheriff’s Office pays for the other two months of costs and raising the budget to $100,000 would keep that ratio in place for a third SRO.

He said having a third officer could be beneficial for the system.

“It is nice to have them available and they assist not just during the school day, but they provide a service to us with athletic events and things like that,” said Dorsey. “They provide a valuable service.”

Dorsey said that if the Board of Education were to approve it in its budget process, the county would also have to approve it as part of the Sheriff’s Office budget when the county approves its budget later this year.

He said a decision by the school board would need to be made in the next month or two in order to include it in both the proposed budgets for the school system and the county.