The Bowling Green and Warren County school districts are maintaining the same number of school resource officers as school systems statewide contend with the costly provisions of Kentucky’s 2019 School Safety and Resilience Act.

Despite being unfunded, the law – among other provisions – mandates the assignment of at least one SRO per campus “as funds and personnel become available.”

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office oversees the placement of these SROs – sworn law enforcement officers trained to work with youth – across Warren County Public Schools and the Bowling Green Independent School District. Sheriff Brett Hightower said they primarily focus on school safety; this includes staying visible across campuses, making connections with community members, helping out with immediate safety and security needs, and coordinating with administrators to meet compliance with state security regulations.

On Monday, the BGISD Board of Education authorized a new SRO hire who filled a position that just became vacant in the district. BGISD has four SROs, consisting of three retired sheriff’s deputies and one city police officer.

BGISD has one full-time officer each at Bowling Green Junior High and High School and two who share the five elementary schools and the Bowling Green Learning Center. The district hopes to add an SRO as applicants become available.

The Warren County Public School system has 17 SROs serving its 24 campuses, said Chris McIntyre, chief financial officer at WCPS.

McIntyre added that WCPS is collaborating with the Sheriff’s Office to ensure campuses are covered, continuously evaluating its SRO placement. WCPS has a safety committee led by lead SRO Steve Chappell, who’s also the district safety director, and it’s made up of leaders throughout the district.

“If our safety committee feels like we need to add an officer or two officers, then we will follow their advice on that,” McIntyre said.

This academic year, school districts are, for the first time, to receive a $20,000 state reimbursement per SRO – but that’s far from enough. WCPS reimburses the Sheriff’s Office for its SROs, which comes to about $90,000 per officer – “a pretty good hit for any budget,” McIntyre said. BGISD’s most recent SRO agreement indicates a yearly salary and benefits totaling $62,494, with annual operating expenses costing $21,072 – totaling $83,566 annually, with one-time expenses costing an additional $8,550.

“In Kentucky, most SROs are retired officers from city and county departments; it makes it economically feasible,” BGISD Superintendent Gary Fields said. “To hire a full-time officer is just so expensive.”

In 2019, the Kentucky School Board Association estimated that hiring the SROs and counselors called for in the law would cost $121 million statewide. Earlier this year, with school districts about 600 SROs short statewide, the legislature passed an update that allows school systems to add “school guardians” – such as retired special and sworn law enforcement officers, retired Kentucky state troopers, honorably discharged veterans and former federal law enforcement officers; neither school district is interested.

McIntyre said the WCPS safety committee advised the school system to not implement a school guardian plan at this point.