Information from WYSH Radio
The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved a resolution on Monday that says the board is committed to providing school resource officers at all eight of the schools that make up the system, from preschool all the way to high school.
The resolution passed last night directs Interim Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bob Smallridge to work with City Manager Mark Watson to find a way to make that happen.
Bob Smallridge
The Oak Ridge Board of Education will discuss a plan to possibly add more school resource officers during a meeting this evening.
The board will also consider a new timeline in its search for a new superintendent.
Interim Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Robert J. Smallridge, who is a former superintendent in the Secret City, said he would like to have one school resource officer, or SRO, in each school. There is currently one SRO at the high school.
The Tennessee Education Association said this week that it is neutral on gun laws.
But the organization did release a statement after some legislators proposed allowing teachers to carry guns in Tennessee schools. The proposals followed the Dec. 14 school shooting at Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 students, six adults, the gunman, and his mother.
Here’s the TEA statement:
Information from WYSH Radio
In the wake of last week’s deadly school shootings in Connecticut, many people in the area have wondered what is being done to keep their children safe at school.
WYSH asked Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough how often officers conduct walk-throughs at the city’s three elementary schools. Scarbrough said every school in the city, including the three county schools within the city limits, are visited by officers two to three times per day in unscheduled, random, drop-in visits.
Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said there are eight full-time school resource officers, or SROs, who rotate between the county’s 17 schools. That number includes SROs who are assigned to just one school, namely the two county high schools.
The school shootings in Newtown, Conn., on Friday have focused attention on school security in Tennessee, led to pledges to increase the police presence at some schools, and bolstered calls for more school resource officers across the state.
It has also revived an intense debate about gun control in the United States.
The shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown last week killed 20 children, six adults, the gunman, and his mother. On Tuesday, the National Rifle Association said it was prepared to “offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again” and would have a major news conference on Friday.
In Tennessee, a few legislators have proposed requiring school resource officers in all schools, training at least one staff member to use firearms, or allowing teachers to carry handguns into schools not patrolled by armed police officers. But it’s not yet clear how much support—or funding—those proposals will have.
In Oak Ridge, Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer said education officials will continue to advocate for more school resource officers, or SROs. But local officials said adding SROs could depend upon funding.
In Anderson County, Mayor Terry Frank sent out information on Tuesday on the positive measures taken this week by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department after last week’s shooting, including four walk-throughs at Dutch Valley Elementary School on Monday.
