CCBOE DISCUSSES SRO'S WITH COUNTY SHERIFF

Cumberland County Sheriff Casey Cox addressed the Board of Education about Student Resource Officers at a work session Tuesday night. Cox stated that the SRO program had been very successful in the county with 4 officers covering the eight county schools and two officers provided by the city at the high schools. Cox did say that he believed having one officer covering CCHS, Martin Elementary and the Phoenix School was too much of a stretch. Even though the sheriff’s department initially started the program two years ago, the board contributed $233,000 last year. Cox stated that the sheriff’s dept. did not have the funds to continue the program into the next fiscal year, and that the initial startup would be anywhere from $300,000-$350,000. Everyone on the board agreed that it was most important to keep the SRO’s in schools, and that it was essential that funding be worked out.