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District staff outline SRO grant model and student‑reporting systems; committee asks for ongoing monitoring and clarity on costs
Summary
Protective services staff briefed the committee on SRO classification and grants (class 1 vs class 3), the StopIt anonymous reporting tool (646 submissions in the year) and Gaggle device monitoring (18,591 items reviewed). Members asked for clarity on recurring grant renewals, the district’s share of SRO costs, responses to high‑priority reports and how monitoring ties into school operations.
Protective services staff told the committee the district has been expanding school resource officer (SRO) coverage using state‑administered SRO grants and local contributions. Stewart Pottingham (coordinator of protective services) explained the difference between class 1 officers (full law‑enforcement powers on and off campus) and class 3 officers (powers limited to school curtilage) and said grants are renewed annually through the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Staff explained grant funding covers the salary and equipment for SROs at many elementary schools; the board heard that the district carries payroll obligations such as FICA while the state grants reimburse most other costs. A typical net split mentioned in committee remarks was roughly 75% district‑funded and 25% by partner agencies for certain expenses; extracurricular event coverage (football games, etc.) was described as district responsibility.
The briefing covered student and digital monitoring systems used to surface threats. Andrea Murray (introduced as program staff) explained StopIt, the anonymous reporting portal, and said the district received 646 StopIt reports in the most recent year, with all opened and closed. Gaggle (device monitoring installed on school devices and in Google Classroom) produced 18,591 items reviewed; staff described how Gaggle flags keywords and routes high‑need incidents to after‑hours dispatch centers and law enforcement where appropriate. ArchiveSocial was noted as the district tool for monitoring public social media.
Board members asked how the tools are triaged, how the district responds to overnight or weekend reports, whether false positives are manageable and how SRO costs and grant renewals are managed. Staff said StopIt can trigger immediate calls for emergencies, Gaggle routes serious after‑hours events through local dispatch, EdPlan captures threat assessments and threat assessment teams coordinate follow up. The committee requested ongoing reporting on trends, costs and any operational gaps.
