TIPTON COUNTY, Tenn. — Tipton County Schools will be losing more than half of their state grant funding to pay for four of their seven school resource officers (SROs), district Superintendent John Combs told ABC24 Wednesday.
While the loss of grant funding could threaten those SRO positions, Combs said the district is adding funding for them in their 2022-2023 school year budget, and will not be cutting out any of the SROs.
Combs said while the district has several security measures in place, nothing is as vital as having those SROs.
"Without an armed, trained, person there in that building to react to a situation as gut-wrenching and heartbreaking as that situation was in Texas, that constantly keeps me and other school leaders up at night," Combs said.
There are 14 schools in the Tipton County School System and seven officers work at those schools. Combs said funding those SROs isn't his only problem, so is finding qualified people to work as an SRO.
Combs said he hopes state funding for the 2023-2024 school year addresses this issue.
Editor's note: This story originally reported that Tipton County might be losing their SROs. It has since been updated to reflect that Tipton County will not be cutting these positions.