Nell Holcomb seeks deal with Cape County to add school resource officer

A Cape Girardeau County school district is planning to improve security on its rural campus by potentially adding a full-time school resource officer, or SRO, an official said.

An SRO performs many functions, including providing needed training and a police presence on campus in case of emergency.

In city limits, SROs are provided by the local police force, but for outlying schools in the county, there's only one SRO to cover each school part time.

Nell Holcomb superintendent Darryl Pannier said by phone Thursday that for the last few years, school leadership has talked about how to bring on a full-time SRO.

"Too many school shootings have been happening," Pannier said. "To a certain point, we're isolated out here."

The current SRO is provided by Sheriff John Jordan's office, and the officer splits his time between Nell Holcomb, Delta, Oak Ridge, Saxony and Notre Dame, said Captain Ruth Ann Dickerson, commander of business operations and communications for the sheriff's office.

The other schools in the county are covered by the Jackson School District, Dickerson said.

Pannier said the plan is "still in its infancy, but looks promising."

There is a lot of planning that would need to be hammered out, between the Sheriff's office, the county commission and the Nell Holcomb Board of Education, Pannier added.

And while the district isn't eager to be a guinea pig, Pannier said, they're hoping to get ahead of this issue before it becomes a concern.

Dickerson got the go-ahead from the Cape Girardeau County Commission at its regular meeting Thursday.

Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy said while the program may evolve, it's important to get it started.

Dickerson and Pannier said they hope to get the full-time SRO in place for the beginning of the 2018-19 school year.

The next step, Pannier said, is to have the Board of Education approve the expenditure.

"We had to make sure the blessing came from the Commissioners first," Pannier said.

Details are far from finalized, Pannier said, and will need to be worked out over the coming weeks.

Dickerson said at the meeting the district had proposed a split of 75 percent and 25 percent, with the district covering the bulk of the salary and benefits cost, and the county picking up the other 25 percent.

"We, like anyone else, have a finite amount of resources, or funds," Pannier said. "If we can look at sharing those, I think it's a win-win for everyone."

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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