Warren County Public Schools will need to consider a tax increase of 2 cents to pay for school safety improvements, such as more school resource officers and mental health specialists and hand-held metal detectors for use in schools, the Daily News has learned.

Chris McIntyre, the district’s chief financial officer, said in an interview Wednesday that he’s discussed with Superintendent Rob Clayton a separate tax rate of 2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation that would be used exclusively for school safety.

The rate would be in addition to whatever property tax rate the district’s school board decides to set. When asked if the district could afford the safety upgrades it wants without additional tax revenue, McIntyre said it’s his opinion that the rate is needed given the growing needs of schools and unreliable levels of state funding.

“We’ll have to make the recommendation. I think there’s a good case to make the recommendation for the additional safety,” he said. The money could be used to purchase additional security cameras, buy metal detecting wands and fund mental health services for students, he added.

Last month, Clayton wrote in a message posted on the district’s website that he would ask the school board to expand the district’s school resource officer program and mental health services and purchase the metal detectors.

“As a father of three, please know that I fully recognize the importance of having your trust in our ability to ensure the safety of our students and I fully understand the concern many of us within our community feel right now,” Clayton wrote at the time.

Clayton wrote that his decision was the result of a newly formed Regional Safety Task Force committee that advised his district and neighboring school districts on additional safety measures worth considering. That committee included members from local law enforcement, emergency management, the Kentucky Center for School Safety and other representatives.

In February, community members voiced their concerns at a school safety forum and urged the district to take action. Some suggested creating a “watchdog” program where volunteers could patrol schools or purchasing devices that automatically lock classroom doors to block intruders from entering. The forum followed high profile school shootings in Florida and Kentucky and a wave of school threats issued across the state.

Warren County Public Schools isn’t the only district that’s considered a tax increase to pay for school safety improvements.

On Wednesday, the Fayette County Public Schools board of education approved a property tax increase to pay for a slew of school safety upgrades as part of a $13.5 million initiative, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

As for Warren County Public Schools’ own school safety improvements, they won’t be cheap either.

The district currently employs five school resource officers with one at each of its high schools, McIntyre said. That cost the district roughly $150,000 this past school year. If the district were to hire five more officers, as is the plan, McIntyre estimated the cost would rise to $300,000 or even $325,000.

The mental health specialists would cost upward of $50,000 per position and the price of metal detectors can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, meaning the district would be “easily looking at a $50,000 hit there,” he said.

Despite the cost, McIntyre said it’s worth it for students, especially hiring more mental health specialists.

“That is probably one of the best investments is those folks who can help meet the social (and) emotional needs of kids,” he said.

Regardless of what the school board decides, it won’t be able to act until it receives its rate options from the state in August.