District outlines interim SRO staffing plan amid grant uncertainty; proposes $45/hour off-duty option and supervisor role

Dr. Stover, the superintendent, reviewed recent safety investments (full camera coverage of common areas, safety lobbies, weapons detection at events, bus cameras, a director of safety and yearly training) and said the district is committed to maintaining school resource officers (SROs) despite funding and staffing uncertainty.

He told the board the Center for Safer Schools has not released its grant application for the upcoming year and the district does not yet know whether funding will mirror prior years. At the same time, several law enforcement partners are short-staffed, creating vacancies at elementary schools in Stoneville, Wentworth, Reidsville and Eden. "We don't know what amount of money we will get," he said. "We feel pretty confident that this program is not going, but we don't know if we're going to get all, for instance, 12 of our elementary schools and all of our middle schools as we have in the past."

To bridge the gap, Stover presented three interim strategies: (1) hire off-duty officers at an hourly pay rate set at $45/hour to work roughly 20 hours per week for 40 weeks (estimated cost about $36,000 annually per part-time position) to fill elementary coverage gaps; (2) fund a Rockingham County supervisor position to coordinate roving elementary SROs and provide coverage across schools; and (3) switch to quarterly invoicing from partner agencies to avoid paying full-year costs when vacancies occur and consider lowering the district share from 83% toward 75% with a cap on the benefits package to provide cost certainty.

Mr. Goodykoontz, introduced by staff to speak on operational details, described the supervisor role as a manager who would "rove" among elementary schools and cover vacancies, and said that consolidating some buildings (Moss Street and Southland into one campus) affects how many SROs the district can expect from partner agencies.

Board members questioned how the change in percentage would affect municipalities with different benefit packages and whether refunds would be recovered when officers leave midyear; staff said quarterly invoicing would reduce administrative friction and that some municipalities have already returned partial funds in prior years. Stover said the district will meet with law enforcement partners on June 17 to refine the plan and will bring budgetary language back to the board through the regular budget process if the board wants to proceed.

Stover emphasized the district is not proposing to reduce SRO coverage: "We are not cutting SROs," a board member reiterated during discussion, and staff said the proposal could result in 14 full-time SROs plus five part-time positions serving as a bridge until full staffing is restored.

The board did not adopt a plan at the work session; staff will return with details and cost estimates for board consideration.