HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — The Henry County School District only has half the number of school resource officers it needs. To help with the issue, it's focusing on putting full-time officers in its high schools first – where there’s the greatest need – and then ramping up the effort in other grade levels.
Some Henry County parents said news of an SRO shortage makes them nervous about the upcoming school year.
“That’s scary because you hear the incidents that are going on across the U.S.," one Henry County mom said.
“You want your kids to come and get an education but you want them to feel safe while doing it,” she added.
The sheriff’s office recently ended its agreement to provide SROs for the school district, so now the police department is stepping in to help. The goal is to have one SRO per 1,000 students. This amounts to about 43 SROs stationed in the schools full-time. However, right now they only have the staffing to do about half of that.
To help with the needs, they plan to have officers prioritize coverage in the 10 high schools and then have the middle schools covered with an SRO per school by October. Meanwhile, they’ll have other SROs float between other schools.
“If there was a situation where one of our middle or elementary schools didn’t have someone physically in the building, there’s someone close enough by,” said Henry County Schools Communications Director, J.D. Hardin.
Hardin said as they work to increase SRO staffing, they’re implementing other safety measures like a new system of locked doors with cameras and buzzers that’s being installed in all schools.
They’ve also hired 50 campus safety monitors in order to have one at each school.
“They’re floaters, gonna be walking throughout our halls at all times to be that extra set of eyes,” said Hardin.
They’re also rolling out a tip line to report any safety concerns. Students, parents or community members can call or text 770-220-7009. They can also send pictures or video to the same number.
“As much safety as we can have for our children, the better,” said Michelle Simmons, a mom who is glad these measures are in place.
Hardin said the district’s ultimate goal is to create its own Henry County Schools Police Department, but that could take a few years.