Sohn: Is school safety worth a quarter a day?

Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / Hamilton County Schools superintendent Bryan Johnson speaks about several measures local schools have taken for safety purposes during a Town Hall meeting Monday at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah. Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / Hamilton County Schools superintendent Bryan Johnson speaks about several measures local schools have taken for safety purposes during a Town Hall meeting Monday at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah.

By Pam Sohn April 18, 2018 5 min read

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School safety meetings

SSI Guardian President Michael Yorio speaks during a School Safety and Security Analysis Meeting at the Westin on Monday, April 16, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

SSI Guardian Certified Executive Instructor and El Paso County (Colo.) Sheriff's Office Chief Todd Evans speaks about the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting during a School Safety and Security Analysis Meeting at the Westin on Monday, April 16, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

SSI Guardian Certified Executive Instructor and El Paso County (Colo.) Sheriff's Office Chief Todd Evans speaks during a School Safety and Security Analysis Meeting at the Westin on Monday, April 16, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond speaks at the beginning of a School Safety and Security Analysis Meeting at the Westin on Monday, April 16, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Westin Wamp helps moderate a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. The meeting was open to the general public to attend and ask questions of local officials. Sheriff Jim Hammond and the Professional Educators of Tennessee joined together to host the event.

Sheriff Jim Hammond answers a question about student resource officers in schools during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. Hammond and the Professional Educators of Tennessee joined together to host the event.

Hamilton County Juvenile Courts Judge Robert D. Philyaw speaks during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. The meeting was open to the general public to attend and ask questions of local officials.

A group of panelists listen as a question is asked during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. Sheriff Jim Hammond, seated on the far left of the panelists, and the Professional Educators of Tennessee joined together to host the event.

Jim Watson asks a question during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. The meeting was open to the general public to attend and ask questions of local officials.

Franklin McCallie, a local activist, speaks out during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. The meeting was open to the general public to attend and ask questions of local officials.

Todd Evans, a retired police chief, speaks about several issues around school safety during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. Several panelists which included school officials, law enforcement and representatives from Professional Educators of Tennessee.

Hamilton County Schools superintendent Bryan Johnson speaks about several measures local schools have taken for safety purposes during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. The meeting was open to the general public to attend and ask questions of local officials.

JC Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, seated in the center, speaks as Chattanooga Police chief David Roddy and Michael Yorio, president of School Specialty Inc., listen during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond and the Professional Educators of Tennessee joined together to host the event.

Hamilton County Board of Education member Joe Smith listens as panelists speak during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. Several questions were raised during the meeting about what the school system and local law enforcement was going to do to provide better safety for students.

Lauren Gossett, a senior at East Hamilton High School, encourages others to vote in local elections during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. The meeting was open to the general public to attend and ask questions of local officials about school safety.

Jeanette Omarkhail with Tennessee Education Association asks questions about providing additional support for teachers during a Town Hall meeting held Monday, April 16, 2018 at East Hamilton Middle High School in Ooltewah, Tenn. Omarkhail suggested that more training could help teachers identify potential school shooters and resolve problems before they occur.

Would you spend $90 a year on your son or daughter’s school safety? Your grandson’s or granddaughter’s school safety? The well-being of a niece or nephew?

Pull it apart a little. That’s about a quarter a day for little Johnny – and all the rest of Hamilton County’s 44,400 or so Jacks and Janes – to have an SRO in school every day.

That 25 cents a day would pay the $4 million that Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond says it will take to put a trained, armed and ready school resource officer in every public school here.

The $4 million figure looks formidable until we break it down by student, but it seems like a no-brainer if you calculate it like lunch money.

Now some Hamilton County and Chattanooga officials – along with the representatives of a national school safety consulting firm – are beginning to put the hard sell on residents and other officials about classroom safety – especially in the aftermath of the school shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school in February that left 17 students and teachers dead.