Southern Boone School District brings police officers on campus during school hours

After tragedy at a high school in south Florida, police in southern Boone County are taking action.

The Ashland Police Department announced on Friday that it will be placing an officer in school buildings in the Southern Boone School District at various times during school hours.

“After this last event that occurred in Florida, we decided, ‘You know what? We want the community to know that it’s very important to us that the kids are safe,'” said Ashland Police Chief Lyn Woolford. “That the parents can go to work and know that they’re safe.”

Woolford said a different off-duty officer will be present during random hours while school is in session and will be at different buildings throughout the day.

“We don’t want to present a plan so that somebody can try to work around the plan,” he said.

Right now the school district has one school resource officer from the Boone County Sheriff’s Department. He splits his time among the four school buildings.

“Anytime I can get a police officer in our buildings, it’s a win-win,” said Superintendent Chris Felmlee. “It makes our buildings safer and it also gives our kids a great opportunity to interact positively with law enforcement.”

Woolford said the officers will begin stopping by the schools next Tuesday, as there is no school in session on Monday. He said the officers will be in place through the end of the school year and beyond.

“We’re going to evaluate as we go along,” he said. “Maybe there’s a better way to do it so that for next school year we have a better plan, because this is pretty short notice.”