Bill requiring an SRO on every school campus passes House committee

Feb. 10—Area school officials are taking a wait-and-see approach to a bill that has the goal of placing a school resource officer on every school campus.

House Bill 63 was filed by Rep. Kevin Bratcher, a Louisville Republican. The bill was approved by the House education committee Tuesday.

The bill says school districts shall cooperate to assign one certified school resource officer to each school campus with one or more school buildings by Aug. 1. The bill would require a school resource officer assigned to a campus to be "on site, working full-time on the building or buildings on campus."

If a school district could not meet the requirement, due to insufficient funds or a lack of qualified personnel to fill the positions, Bratcher's bill would allow a district to meet the bill's requirements over time on a per-campus basis, if they have submitted a plan to the state's school safety marshal, outlining how the district intends to meet the goal.

"If you can't make that happen, due to lack of funding or qualified personnel, you have to work with the school safety marshal until that happens," Bratcher said in an interview Monday.

The bill is an extension of the School Safety and Resiliency Act, which lawmakers passed in 2019. That bill called for districts to have one SRO per campus, but it didn't set a date. The bill said the goal was to be met "as funds and qualified personnel become available." Bratcher's bill would remove that language from the Act.

"We are just trying to find ways to fulfill the intention of the School Safety and Resiliency Act," Bratcher said. "We can't wait for another Marshall County (High School). We can't wait for another Heath" High School.

In 2018, a 15 year-old student began shooting at Marshall County High School, killing two students and injuring several others. In 1997, a student killed three fellow students and wounded five others in a shooting at Heath High School.

"We want someone to save lives if something happens," Bratcher said.

During Tuesday's committee hearing, Bratcher said a district would have to explain why it couldn't make the goal to the state school safety marshal. Bratcher said having information on why districts can't meet the goal could help lawmakers make decisions on providing funding for SROs.

"This is not an unfunded mandate," Bratcher said. Schools would only have work with the state on a plan to add SROs sometime in the future.

Owensboro Public Schools has two school resource officers provided by the Owensboro Police Department. Jared Revlett, public information officer for OPS, said there would be challenges to stationing an SRO on every school campus.

"Funding is a big issue, and staffing by the police department is a big issue," Revlett said. "We have 13 schools. That's 13 officers off the street."

The school district pays part of the salaries for OPD officers stationed in the schools.

"We are keeping an eye on (the bill), certainly, but there are going to be a lot of issues if it (requires) one per school," Revlett said. "We would have to work with (OPD) to come up with a solution if this passes."

Lora Wimsatt, public information officer for Daviess County Public Schools, said the district would not comment on the pending bill.

DCPS has its own police department with five officers, with one at both of the high schools and one at each of the three middle schools. The department's officers assigned to the middle schools are also each responsible for four elementary schools.

Tommy Burrough, superintendent for McLean County Public Schools, said the district has looked at options for placing SROs in all of its schools. The district has a school resource officer through the McLean County Sheriff's Department.

"The sheriff and I have had conversations on this," Burrough said. "I know we couldn't afford to employ four SROs across the district, but we could possibly employ retired police officers."

School resource officers are required to be Police Office Professional Standards (POPS) certified to work in schools in Kentucky.

"I'm not sure there are enough police officers to fill every single school in the state of Kentucky," Burrough said.

School officials are waiting to see if the bill becomes law and what the final version of the bill contains, Burrough said.

"We aren't going to panic right now," he said.

Robby Asberry, superintendent of Hancock County Public Schools, said the district will explore the idea of having an SRO at each campus in the future.

"That's something I want to talk to the board about," Asberry said.

The idea of added SROs at the two elementary schools will likely come up at the school board's next work session, he said.

The district has an SRO at the combined campus of Hancock County High School and Hancock County Middle School.

Officials from Ohio County Schools could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Carla Embry, community relations specialist with Muhlenberg County Public Schools, said the district has three SROs. District officials are waiting for the final version of the bill, Embry said.

"We do think things can change" as the bill goes through the legislative process, she said.

Although the bill hasn't been heard in the full House, a floor amendment has been attached that, if approved, would require the state to provide funding for districts to hire SROs for each school. Embry said the district would adapt to the bill's mandates if it becomes law.

"If it's a requirement, we will find the money," Embry said.

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse