The DeKalb County School Board voted last week to create one more School Resource Officer position, possibly opting for a new female SRO to be stationed at DCHS or DeKalb Middle School. The school system currently has five SROs, one assigned at each school across the county (Smithville Elementary, Northside Elementary, DeKalb West, DeKalb Middle, and DeKalb County High School), but another was needed to fill in if one officer had to be absent for a time. Officials also say a female officer will help with the female students and areas such as restrooms and locker rooms.
At the School Board’s regular monthly meeting last Thursday, the board acted on a request made by Sheriff Patrick Ray. The Board of Education voted 6-1 to fund the new position, with Danny Parkerson the only no vote. The position will not be filled until the 2024-25 school year and will be assigned to either DCHS or DMS, but will be available at any school should another SRO have to be absent.
Currently, five SRO positions are funded by the State. Each school was granted $75,000 for a total allocation from the state of $375,000, which is recurring each year. Previously, the county funded three positions and the school system was funding two. The funds for the two positions are still in the School Board’s budget, so they will simply use that to fund the new SRO.
Officially, all SRO officers are employed through the DeKalb Sheriff’s Department, and require special training. Funds are given to the sheriff’s budget for employment.
Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said is this day and age when there is so much bad news across the country, he supports the addition of the new position. “Anytime you talk about kids you want safety first, and our goal is to provide every resource that we can to make them feel safe when they come to school. Having another SRO from the sheriff’s department in the school just reinforces that commitment.”
“We also want to put as many positive role models in the schools as we can. When those kids see a friendly face (SRO) they can identify with at school and outside of school that’s just a win-win for them and our community,” said Director Cripps.
Sheriff Patrick Ray commended the board for funding the new SRO. “I want to thank Director of Schools Cripps and the school board for giving us this position.”
He explained why a new SRO position was needed and how the position will operate. “We to use the middle school SRO to substitute for an SRO at one of the other schools and to have the high school SRO cover both the high school and middle school, but that makes it hard on the high school SRO because DCHS is our busiest place in the school system as far as what SROs do,” Sheriff Ray said.
Another issue was the location of DeKalb West School, and how if an SRO had to be absent at that location it left the school vulnerable. Officials pointed out that while DCHS, DMS, Northside, and SES were all in the Smithville City limits, and fairly close to either police or the sheriff’s department, the West School was far from a speedy response if something were to occur. An SRO has to be present at the school no matter what, while DCHS and DMS would have to float an SRO between the schools.
One DeKalb Middle educator at the meeting spoke up and raised her concerns over the SRO situation. “This school year up to this point, we have had our SRO at a different school for twenty-four and a half days. There have been a few times when we (DMS) had to call the high school SRO and he was in the middle of a situation there, so that put us waiting until he could get over here. Fortunately, I am very thankful it was never something life threatening. I know sometimes there has to be a substitute, but it hurts us a lot when we have to lose our SRO because our students know and trust him. It’s nice to have that person here,” she said.
Sheriff Ray said that his department has already reserved a spot for the new officer to receive special training, and won’t announce a name until the training is finalized. The main candidate for the position is a female deputy that has been serving the department for several years. Her base pay is currently $50,601 plus benefits according to her salary tier level with the sheriff’s department.
“We plan to put this female deputy as an SRO at the DeKalb Middle School/DCHS complex. She will be a rover between those schools unless an SRO is absent on a given day at one of the other schools, then she would substitute for that SRO there. We feel like female students might feel more comfortable talking to or confiding in a female SRO to assist them in certain situations,” said Sheriff Ray.
