School Resource Officer P. Soyster, right, talks with 12th grade senior Michael Wright in the hallway following the final lunch period Wednesday at Central High School in Harrison.The Hamilton County Board of Education voted Thursday to move forward with hiring nine more student security officers or SSOs at area schools, which would nearly double the number of SSOs in the district from 10 to 19.
After hours of discussion, the Hamilton County Commission passed its 2022 budget at its Wednesday meeting. The budget provides funding for 32 school resource officer positions through the sheriff’s office and 19 SSO positions through the school district. SSOs are paid less and do not have the authority to make arrests.
Justin Robertson, chief operations officer for the schools, told the county commission at its Wednesday meeting that the district would need to hire 25 more SSOs for full coverage, and he told the school board Thursday the request for those positions could be made depending on the availability of excess tax revenue and the county commission’s approval.
“This is a request that if the county commission provides additional funding, we can hire up to 25 more,” Robertson said.
School board member Marco Perez of Signal Mountain went to the county commission meeting and said he was optimistic about the outcome of the conversation.