Councilman Chris Howley listens to a concerned parent Monday during a Signal Mountain Town Hall meeting to discuss the ability to fund a school resource officer for Signal Mountain schools.
Concerned parent Chip Baker inquires about Signal Mountain's school resource officer situation during a Signal Mountain Town Hall meeting Monfday.Signal Mountain Middle-High School will soon be patrolled again by a Signal Mountain police officer.
City Council voted unanimously at its meeting Monday night to put a city officer in the school until the end of the school year, at which time city officials expect Hamilton County will pay to put a school resource officer there the following school year.
Signal Mountain pulled School Resource Officer Heath Gunter out of the school in late April in order to fully staff its patrol force, city officials said.
The push to put a police officer back in the school was led by Chip Baker, who formerly represented Signal Mountain on the Hamilton County school board.
"We're leaving our kids high and dry. As a parent, that's how I feel," Baker told council members.
He shared a story about Principal Robin Copp calling police because she heard a gunshot nearby the school, which is in wooded area.
"She said she had a 28-minute response time," Baker said.
There are some 1,600 students, teachers and support staff, he said, between the combined middle and high school and nearby Nolan Elementary School.
After only about 10 minutes of discussion, recently elected Councilman Chris Howley made the motion to restore a city officer at the school, though Howley said, "I think the county should be paying for this."
City Manager Boyd Veal said county officials have indicated they will post a school resource officer at the middle-high school.
"The next available SRO will be assigned to that school," Veal said. "We are the very next school on the list."
Before the school resource officer discussion began, a handful of people addressed the council about a rash of roughly 20 home break-ins that have occurred since August in Signal Mountain, Walden and Walden's Ridge. Residents asked the council to do more to raise awareness of the crimes, and several suggested that Signal Mountain follow in the footsteps of Lookout Mountain and install cameras that record the license plates of everyone who drives into town.
"Are we depleting your police force?" asked Councilman Robert Spalding, who seconded the mention to restore the school's police officer.
"That scenario is one of the things we struggled with during this whole process," said Veal, who said the city is trying to find the right balance for its police force, which consists of 15 officers and one civilian.
We saw this east of our office in north Springdale.
Posted by NWADG on Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Twenty break-ins might not be a lot for a larger city, Veal said after the meeting, but "for us, that's a ton."
Veal said Signal Mountain will rotate different officers in and out of the school, instead of having a dedicated SRO. That will begin as soon as possible, he said.
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/tim.omarzu or twitter.com/TimOmarzu or 423-757-6651.