County Commissioner Tim Boyd said Wednesday the county and city need to act to provide School Resource Officers for every one of the 79 county schools.
He recommended that the city of Chattanooga supply $1 million and the county rework its budget to come up with the other $3 million for the $4 million Sheriff Jim Hammond said was needed.
There currently are SROs in 38 of the schools.
Commissioner Boyd said, "As we move toward in the budget process, I would like to put the issue of school safety before the Commission for further discussion. It is my view that as a county, we have not provided enough funding for school safety.
"Here is my reasoning:
"The Parkland school shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, brought forth the most emotional discussion about school safety that the country has ever seen, primarily because the voice of the Parkland students motivated other students across the country, including Hamilton County. The extensive coverage of the issue in the media here was significant, and the number of people paying attention large.
"I met a commissioner from Broward County at a national meeting after the shooting. Hearing the personal stories of the slain and the survivors was shocking, and I vowed to myself I would do everything possible to provide for the safety of our Hamilton County students, faculty and other employees who work in our schools.
"After a period of less emotion and partisan politics around the issue, Sheriff Jim Hammond convened the key community stakeholders for a discussion about the safety of our schools in Hamilton County, including national expert Michael Yorio. The meeting on April 16 was well attended, and the consensus in the room was that " ... school safety is our No. 1 priority ... "
"Todd Evans, Yorio's associate, said the meeting was as good a school safety meeting as he has seen anywhere in the country. The Sheriff recommended putting a School Resource Officer in each of our 79 schools. Superintendent Bryan Johnson had previously brought a package of safety enhancements to the School Board that involved funding additional SROs, some money committed to door security and an identification system for school offices. The School Board approved its budget on April 19 which included additional funding for some SROs. The School Board also approved seven new counselors/social workers, a critical component of school safety.
"Sheriff Hammond, in conjunction with Mayor Coppinger, committed that the county would fund outfitting the new SROs while the school system paid for their salaries. The result was seven additional SROs. At this point, we would have SROs in 36 of 79 schools. The City of Chattanooga provides two additional officers, who work at Brainerd and Howard high schools.
"Earlier this month on May 18, a school shooting in Sante Fe, TX, left 10 dead.
"As a County Commission we must ask the question: "Have we really done enough to protect our
schools if we do not fully fund the SRO program?" The Sheriff has acknowledged that even if he
had the money today, it would be well into next year before he could recruit, train and place all the
SROs. Like all governments, we have budget dollars that fall outside the core services we are mandated by the State to provide. The safety of our citizens is mandated by the State, and I believe now is the time for us to dig deep inside the County budget and see if there are dollars that should be reallocated toward fulfilling Sheriff Hammond's recommendation. In my view, anything not mandated by the State should be on the table for discussion.
"If school safety is our No. 1 priority, then I would contend we can build on what has been done by
providing additional SRO funding out of reallocation of funds within the County Budget. The City is also in the middle of budget workshops, and I believe it is reasonable to suggest Chairman Fairbanks approach City Council Chairman Ken Smith and request the City of Chattanooga to provide $1 million toward SROs. This would be a great help toward providing the Sheriff and the SRO program the $4 million needed.
"It does not make sense to me that we I have any schools without an SRO if school safety is the most important priority we have. If it is the Sheriff who must decide which schools get the seven new SROs, then I believe we should lift that burden from him, step up and fund the program.
"I welcome your thoughts and input on this extremely critical issue at the appropriate time in the budget process."