The Lafayette Parish (La.) School Board is considering eliminating school security and police officer positions at its middle schools and high schools to close a $12 million budget shortfall. Additionally, Duval County (Fla.) schools may cut 65 security officers.
The Lafayette program began in the 2006-07 school year on two campuses and was expanded parish-wide two years later, reports the Advocate. Last year, the district added noncommissioned school safety officers to provide additional support on campuses to help with discipline issues. It costs more than $1 million per year to pay for about 30 officers.
The parish superintendent, however, says he hopes the officers will not be cut. The school board is considering other ways to address the budget shortfall.
In Duval County, security officers were hired shortly after the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, but paying for them all has become a challenge for the district. Cutting some of the officers would save $2 million, reports News4Jax.com. The number of officers might go from 243 to 178. Although there might be a reduction in guards, the number of SROs deployed in the county would remain the same at 53.
