FRANKFORT, Ky. — Over half of Kentucky schools do not have a school resource officer on site to enhance school safety, as mandated by state law. That is just one finding from the State School Security Marshal’s annual report. 

What You Need To Know

  • The latest annual report from the State School Security Marshal showed nearly all schools complied with measures set forth by the School Safety and Resiliency Act

  • HB63 mandates all school campuses have a designated school resource officer, though it did not fund districts for the new positions

  • The report found only 44.8% of schools have an SRO 

  • The report also found only 44% of schools have one counselor or mental health provider per every 250 students

2019’s SB 1, the School Safety and Resiliency Act, implemented new security programs for schools. The latest report from the State School Security Marshal, Ben Wilcox, found almost all Kentucky schools were in compliance with the measures set forth in that law.

“Over 99.53% of schools were compliant with the access control mandate set forth by the School Safety and Resiliency Act, which is fantastic,” said Wilcox. “Obviously, we are always pushing for 100% compliance. We have to have 100%, but having 99.53% is very good.”

However, there were two categories in this report showing more room for improvement when it comes to school safety.

“The future of school safety is one in which relationships are going to be the biggest factor. We can lock all our doors. We can check people in at the front desk, but we have to have relationships in our schools,” said Wilcox.

Only 44.8% of schools currently have an SRO on every campus, as required under HB 63. However, the law does not come up with any extra funding to staff those positions. 

Chris Barrier, director of law enforcement for Montgomery County Schools, said he needs two more SROs in his district to be in compliance. The hold up is the lack of funding. For other districts, it is recruitment.

“Much of Kentucky is rural America, so the applicant pool to pull officers from the streets or their local jurisdictions into the school and SRO world is challenging because the pool of candidates just isn’t very deep,” said Barrier. “Also, the funding sources just aren’t there in many communities here in Kentucky.”

There is another line of the report where Kentucky schools are missing the mark. Only 44% of schools have one counselor or mental health provider per every 250 students.

“We have to have mental health assistance for our kids and our staff. Everyone has to continue to work together to find out and know what is going on in your school. That is going to be the biggest factor with school safety,” said Wilcox.

Wilcox said next steps include working with school districts to identify hurdles and eliminate barriers to compliance. You can read the full report here. 

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