COVINGTON, Ky. — There is a new school safety requirement in effect at Kentucky schools, but not every district will be able to comply.
Each Kentucky campus must now have its own armed school resource officer (SRO). The requirement is a result of Kentucky House Bill 63, which was signed into law by the Gov. Andy Beshear earlier this year.
“It's not all law enforcement,” said State School Security Marshal Ben Wilcox. “Majority of it is being a mentor, being an educator and then being that law enforcement officer.”
Newport Independent Schools has had SROs across its campuses for years.
“I think it's been within the last two or three years that we've had one in every campus,” said Tony Watts, Newport schools superintendent.
Watts said the officers add protection against the threat of school shootings.
“It's good to have an officer on campus to sometimes eliminate that threat,” he said. “Depending on what’s going, then they run to it.”
Despite the new requirement, not every district has had luck filling spots.
“The job has been posted twice now for a total of two months and we don't have any applicants yet,” said Ken Kippenbrock, executive director of human resources and operations at Covington Independent Public Schools. “Not one qualified applicant.”
That’s just for one officer — Covington needs seven. The district currently lacks funding for the other six.
“A deputy or a police officer can cost somewhere around $80,000 between equipment and salary and benefits and everything per campus,” Kippenbrock said. “In total, that would be a significant portion of any district's budget.”
In the meantime, Kippenbrock said the district is focused on other safety measures, including securing entryways.
“We definitely want to come into compliance,” he said. “We want a deputy on every campus.”
Other districts are facing similar challenges statewide.
“Majority of it is funding and manpower,” Wilcox said.
Those roadblocks let districts opt out of an SRO requirement that was set for Kentucky schools back in 2019. Districts were only required to place SROs on campus if they were able to find and pay for them — this law eliminates that opportunity. Instead, districts unable to comply must contact the state to come up with a plan.
“They’re a resource for the community,” Wilcox said. “They’re a resource for our kids and ultimately, they’re a protector, a deterrent of folks that want to come in and do bad things in our schools.”
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