MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County Schools is refusing to release information about the people protecting your kids.
SCS is hiring 30 more school resource officers, saying student safety is a top priority. Shelby County sheriff’s deputies are also stationed at about a dozen SCS schools.
But what about the rest of the district’s schools? What is the level of training for SCS security officers, where will they be stationed and what’s the total bill?
We don’t know, because the district refused to give us that information, citing a Tennessee law that states “information, records and plans that are related to school’s security, the district-wide school safety plans or the building-level school safety plans shall not be open to public inspection.”
It’s also unclear what kind of resume those SCS resource officers have and whether their training compares to a deputy’s.
“Have they got guns? What kind of security do they got?” one parent wanted to know.
Superintendent Dorsey Hopson assured us they get some type of training.
“I know officers did special training, don’t want to go too much into it, over the summer to make sure they are ready for worst-case scenario. I feel pretty good about that,” Hopson said.
The sheriff’s office had no problem releasing which county schools are patrolled by their deputies: Bolton, Booker T. Washington, Central, Cordova, Craigmont, East, Germantown, Overton, Ridgeway, Sheffield, Southwind and Wooddale, plus several middle schools.
That leaves out some SCS high schools, including Melrose, Manassass and Kingsbury.
SCS says all schools are served by either their security or deputies, except Hollis F. Price Middle College High, which uses GT Security because it’s located on Lemoyne-Owen College’s campus. Memphis police aren’t at any schools.
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