As schools across the country grapple with safety concerns, Catoosa County Superintendent Denia Reese hopes to bring more police officers to campuses.
Reese will meet with the Catoosa County Commission on Tuesday evening to discuss hiring school resource officers for their elementary schools. Currently, spokeswoman Marissa Brower said, seven school resource officers cover the county's middle schools and high schools, as well as the Catoosa Performance Learning Center.
Reese wants to add officers to the district's 10 elementary schools.
Politicians and public education officials have debated how best to secure campuses since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where 17 students and teachers died on Feb. 14. Fears struck closer to North Georgia last week, when a Dalton High School teacher locked students out of his room and fired a shot out the window.
In Catoosa County, school officials adopted a strategic plan thee years ago that included hiring officers for their elementary schools. Still, Brower conceded that the recent shootings have weighed on officials' minds.
"All those things that happen make us more aware," she said.
Unlike in Tennessee, Georgia school systems can levy property and sales taxes to fund their operations. Still, Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk said the system and the county government have split the cost on past school resource officers.
He said each one costs about $86,000 a year, when you factor in benefits, a uniform and the use of a car. Sisk said Reese wants to hire five school resource officers for the elementary schools. Each would divide time between two campuses. Over time, he said, the county and school system may hire more.
"This has always been a long-range plan," Sisk said Friday. "But yes, with the recent national incident, it's just kind of pushed it more to the forefront."
The school resource officer issue is not on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting. Commission Chairman Steve Henry said he expects to discuss the issue with Reese in executive session, closed from the public.
"There's been an outcry," he said, of school shooting threats. "Things are getting bad."
President Donald Trump and some other Republican politicians have advocated for arming some teachers, hoping they could deter an armed threat on campus. But Sisk does not think that is a good idea. He would prefer trained law enforcement officers handle those responsibilities.
He added that the school system has taken other steps to secure its campus, such as creating one entrance for everyone to enter the campus. There is also a computer system that allows schools and police to communicate. Teachers and administrators can alert law enforcement about a threat. Law enforcement, in turn, can send a mass message to teachers and staff at a school.
In Walker County, Superintendent Damon Raines said the school system has been implementing a similar security system. He said he and Sheriff Steve Wilson have also discussed hiring more school resource officers.
Raines would like to see a program that brings former police and military officers onto campus. They could be armed, he said, potentially adding extra security. They could also be role models to students.
"They have a level of training that would be different than just arming some teachers," Raines said.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.