School resource officers are members of local law enforcement, like the ones who celebrated Fall Fest with Hillsdale Community Schools. Courtesy | Facebook

Two local school districts are seeking state grants to hire more school resource officers.

“We all believe that it’d be great to have a school resource officer in all of our districts. The problem is funding,” Troy Reehl, superintendent of Hillsdale County Intermediate School District, said. “If money wasn’t an issue, school resource officers would already be in schools.”

Hillsdale Community Schools applied for a grant of $167,547 and Hillsdale County ISD applied for a grant of $147,410, according to the Michigan State Police Office of School Safety.

The state launched its 2023 School Resource Officer Grant Program on Oct. 10, 2022. School districts can use this program to apply for a matching government grant to offset the costs of hiring school resource officers. If districts can raise 50% of the money needed, they will be eligible to receive the rest of the amount from the state in the fall.

SROs are law enforcement officers, usually from local police departments, hired by schools to ensure safety of students and staff on campus.

Local schools, mostly high schools, get threats on a regular basis, according to Reehl. He said the district is working with the city council to offset some of the cost for SRO grants.

Reehl stressed the importance of having SROs in school buildings, and said he thinks the community and the schools should be on the same page when it comes to handling school shootings and threats.

“From a safety standpoint, you have somebody that’s there quicker. They’re right there in your building already,” Reehl said. “The key with law enforcement being in the building is it builds that relationship with our students. I think that just having that police presence in the building is a nice thing to build those relationships in the community.”