Colbert County school district to hire full-time SROs for every school

COLBERT COUNTY, Ala. (WAFF) - The Colbert County School System is looking to beef up its security this fall. Starting in August, every school in the district will have its own School Resource Officer.

“Because of [the] times we’re living in now, every second counts,” said Brad Counce, the school district’s safety and security officer.

This year, the school district had five SROs with two of them being part-time. By the start of the next school year, there will be seven full-time SROs, with one commanding officer. Counce says it was a high priority for County Superintendent Chris Hand.

“One of the first things that Mr. Hand asked me to do was to try to get the funding for a full-time SRO in all of our schools. We’re going to increase our funding for salaries for SROs from $164,000 to $210,000,” Counce said.

The school board passed the plan unanimously. All that is left is for the Colbert County Commission to vote on the plan at their next meeting in June.

District 6 County Commissioner David Isom plans to vote in favor of the plan, calling it a positive change for the school district so no school is placed in a vulnerable position.

“You know it’s just hard to sit here and say this school gets resource officers and the other schools don’t and then the question is ‘why?’” Isom said. “And I know the parents are going to feel safer knowing we do have someone at each school.”

Commissioner Isom believes the plan has the support of the entire county commission. In June, the plan could officially be set in stone.

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