One way Mayor Greg Fischer is planning to save money in the city budget is by cutting 17 school resource officers out of JCPS. His move comes just a month after state lawmakers made a move to improve security in public schools.
JCPS spokesperson Renee Murphy says the district is evaluating what steps JCPS can take to continue supporting schools and how a proposal to cut 17 school resource officers would impact the district.
Some parents are questioning what role resource officers actually play in schools.
"We are ending the two million subsidy to Jefferson County Public Schools for school resource officers," Mayor Greg Fischer announced during his budget address Thursday.
It is a controversial proposal that some say could lead to bigger problems. Others suggest there could be better ways to spend money to protect children.
"Maybe spending money on outreach. More training. More security around the school itself," said Erin Korbylo.
She's the former PTA president at the Academy of Shawnee. She paid close attention to what happened after the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida last year and believes a federal judge's ruling that the school district and the sheriff's office had no constitutional duty to protect the students should put a focus on the role of resource officers across the country.
"That leads one to question. What are the SRO's doing in the schools in the first place if not there to protect our children?" she asked.
Korbylo is suggesting JCPS implement what she calls a 'soft skills' approach. "A lot of times we've gotten away from teaching children how to interact and be social and problem solve and conflict resolution," she told WHAS11.
"Our staff is not prepared as police officers are to deal with these situations," said JCPS board member Linda Duncan.
She's an advocate for SRO's and supported Senate Bill 1 which strongly recommended school districts have them with proper training. Governor Matt Bevin signed it into law last month. "I am very much supportive of putting armed officers in our buildings to help protect our students and staff," Duncan said.
The Jefferson County Teachers Association also reacted to the mayor's proposal sending WHAS this statement:
"JCPS has over 6,000 teachers who have very different opinions on the issue of SRO's in schools. Where there may be more agreement is that our district does need at least some security personnel to ensure all our students are safe and that it makes sense for these security personnel to be district employees so JCPS can assure they have appropriate training and oversight."