02-05-2025
SC governor asks for $21.1M for elementary school SROs, lawmakers provide only $3.7M
South Carolina Governor Henry said the state needs to put an officer in every public school. But time is running out for lawmakers to provide funds.
Sheriff Barry Faile told Channel 9's Tina Terry that he envisions a School Resource Officer in every elementary school in the state. But that dream is not yet a reality.
'The parents want to know their kids are going to a safe environment,' Faile said.
Governor McMaster asked lawmakers for $21.1 million to put toward placing a school resource officer in the remaining 177 schools in the state without them.
But his office said the 'House Ways and Means Budget Committee (has) only provided an additional $3.7 million for the SRO grant program.'
And they only have a few days to support the request, with the legislative session ending on Thursday.
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The governor said Lancaster County, Rock Hill, and Fort Mill Schools are all impacted by the lack of funding. Lancaster County has seven schools without a full-time SRO, Fort Mill Schools has five, and Rock Hill Schools has eight.
Sheriff Faile told Terry he hopes lawmakers will invest in protecting and nurturing the county's most vulnerable children.
'Every agency wants that officer in that setting, but the funding is the problem,' he said.
Rock Hill and Fort Mill Schools have both hired security guards at schools without SROs. And both school districts have said they support the request to get SROs in these schools.
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