Committee advances bill allowing districts to seek proprietary security licenses to staff school safety roles

The Senate Education Committee on Wednesday amended and favorably reported Senate Bill 269, a measure that would let qualifying school districts obtain a proprietary security business license to hire layered security personnel for schools while explicitly prohibiting supplanting school resource officers (SROs).

Senator Elliott, subcommittee chair and senator from Greenville, said the measure responds to districts that currently contract with private security firms and want to bring specialized security and emergency management in‑house with consistent training and close law‑enforcement coordination.

Why it matters: Sponsors said districts such as Greenville — which the bill’s backers described as having dozens of schools without dedicated SROs — are contracting for private security and want authority to employ and train district security personnel without replacing sworn SROs. The bill drew law‑enforcement input and the committee crafted amendments that address training, scope and which districts can apply.

Key provisions and changes

Katie Grinstead summarized the bill for the committee: districts with a certain enrollment had originally been required to meet a student‑population threshold (15,000) to apply; the committee voted to remove that numeric threshold and instead require listed substantive qualifications. Applicants must have a full‑time division solely dedicated to security and emergency management, a written agreement with local law enforcement for joint and continuous training, and may not use the licensed personnel to supplant legally required SROs. The committee adopted a…