Texas recently passed a state law that mandates armed security in every school in the state.
That requirement can be fulfilled by a cop or even "a school district employee who has completed school safety training and carries a handgun on their [sic] person on school premises."
The estimated cost there is $80,000/year per school. The state provides $15,000/year; the District pays the rest.
What does a Richland County Sheriff's Department SRO cost Richland 2? During one staff presentation to a past board, I recall the price tag of $150,000/year. Was that correct then? Is it correct now? Forty SROs would cost $6,000,000. That's per year.
Richland 2 used to have two employees who carried guns while working. At a school board meeting that contained an item to give the then-superintendent the authority over approvals to carry, the liberal majority on the school board decided to ban the guns from school property. Both employees were former police officers working in the District's security department. Neither works for the District now.
