Richland Council Approves $800K for District 1 Resource Officers

Richland County Council voted Wednesday to pay half of the $1.6 million District 1 officials say is needed to fund 14 additional school resource officers.

Council members approved the request 10-1 for $800,000 to pay for SROs at the elementary school level. The district has officers at the middle and high school levels.

The funding request came after Richland 1 originally presented its budget to council. 

Superintendent Percy Mack said they decided to ask council for funding after reviewing cuts in federal aid to the district due to sequestration.

"After looking at our funding and some of the losses that we were going to experience, we wanted to come back and ask you guys to support our efforts to support our children, to support our families and our communities in this school district," Mack said.

Mack said they realized the need for more officers based on recommendations from law enforcement and discussions with parents.

"The No. 1 item for a parent is the safety of their child," Mack said. "Each parent wants their child to come home the way they left home."

Councilman Bill Malinowski, the sole member voting against the motion to pay for the SROs, questioned whether officers were needed at the elementary level, saying it was a "touchy-feely good thing."

Mack mentioned the December shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six employees were killed as one of many reasons to review the safety of students. 

He said the school district has partnered with the county for many years and that he was just asking members to continue what they've done in the past.

Chairman Kelvin Washington said he thinks the funding is vital to the operations of the school district.

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