Two Counties to provide more school resource officers - WVTM-TV: News, Weather, and Sports for Birmingham, AL

Two Counties to provide more school resource officers

Would you pay a dime, a day, to make school children safer in your community?

In Calhoun and Talladega counties, putting a school resource officer in every school is the goal.

Leaders say they plan to make it through an initiative called the School Safety Act. The plan would amend the Alabama constitution to create funding to pay the costs of providing a school resource officer for every public school in both counties.  The counties would acquire those millions through a property tax - which must be approved by voters.

The property tax on a $100,000 home would be an extra $35 a year.

Due to the school incidents that have happened in Alabama and around the nation, leaders in both counties say it will be $35 per household well-spent.

Oxford Chief of Police Bill Partridge, "Basically, the cost of two 20 ounces sodas a month per family or a latte that's cheap that's cheap."

The act will impact eight school districts.  It will also help fund and maintain a system for teachers and school bus drivers to directly communicate with law enforcement through what's called the  Alabama Regional Communications System.
      
A radio system is already in use also by emergency officials, and some of the School Safety Act would go toward the exiting system.

If approved by lawmakers, people would vote in June.