Signal Mountain Middle/High School could soon receive a county-funded school resource officer.
On Oct. 19, the Hamilton County Commission approved a resolution to accept a $750,000 hiring program grant from the U.S. Department of Justice that will allow the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office to place six new SROs in county schools.
“I try to support everything that comes from the Sheriff’s Department because I know how important that is, and I’ve heard how important these SRO officers are,” District 1 Commissioner Randy Fairbanks said following the commission’s vote.
The county will need to pay $431,000 as a match to the federal grant, as well as additional equipment and labor costs, bringing the county’s total to $1.1 million.
Though the Sheriff’s Office has not yet determined which schools will receive the new officers, Signal Mountain Town Manager Boyd Veal said Sheriff Jim Hammond assured the town that the middle/high school would be one of the first schools on the list of institutions to which a new officer would be deployed.