Columbia Board of Education to discuss School Resource Officers Monday evening
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Board of Education meets Monday evening, on the agenda is a discussion over whether to renew the school resource officer agreement ahead of the school year.
If approved, four officers are contracted for hire. The agreement will place two officers in Battle, one in Rock Bridge and one right here in Hickman High Schools.
This school resource officer program is a partnership between the City of Columbia and Columbia Public Schools.
Officers are hired by the city and Columbia Public Schools is involved in the interview process and placing officers in their respective schools.
In this agreement Columbia Public Schools will be paying 75% for the four officers, which will not exceed $317,000.
According to Columbia Public Schools, the primary responsibilities of a school resource officer are
- Overall safety of the building
- To provide mentoring and support for students and staff.
- To de-escalate situations
According to a presentation by Columbia Public Schools, non-emergent 911 calls can take up to five hours after school is out for the day.
Officers daily hours would be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Having an on duty officer at schools after hours helps with immediate response times.
The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Boone Electric offices on Range Line Street.
