Gov. McMaster proposes $21.1M for school resource officers, staffing issues persist

FILE – Republican Gov. Henry McMaster addresses business leaders on Aug. 18, 2022, in Columbia, S.C. McMaster is seeking reelection and will face Democrat Joe Cunningham and Libertarian Bruce Morgan Reeves in the Nov. 8 election. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

(WCIV) — Gov. Henry McMaster wants to use $21.1 million from his Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget to hire and train more School Resource Officers for 177 schools across the state, pending approval from the state’s General Assembly.

Through McMaster’s program, the number of schools with SROs jumped from 406 in 2018 to 1,106 last year.

“Let’s finish this job, fully fund this grant program so that every public-school child in South Carolina will have an officer on campus providing safety for children and teachers and comfort for their parents,” McMaster said in his annual State of the State address.

McMaster hopes to allocate another $8.3 million to fund necessary equipment and training for new SROs.

However, in the Charleston County School District (CCSD), having enough officers to staff each campus can be an issue.

The Charleston Police Department (CPD) doesn’t explicitly recruit SROs but instead looks for officers within their agency who are interested in the job.

“We might get three or four people who are interested. Which is for a department our size is a low number,” said Sr. Officer Malinda Fife, a recruiter and former SRO with CPD.

SROs can be found on more than 50 campuses in CCSD to work alongside the school district’s emergency management division.

“Going above and beyond, making sure that they have a top-notch world-class education is to make sure they’re taken care of and they’re safe and they’re secure,” said Andy Pruitt, director of communications for CCSD.

News 4 requested the following information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA):

• The Charleston Police Department has no vacancies but did not provide a list of officers and schools it covers.
• The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office has three vacancies with SROs in 11 schools.
• The North Charleston Police Department has no vacancies with 13 SROs in 12 schools.
• The Mount Pleasant Police Department was contacted on Jan. 14 and has not responded.

But local law enforcement is unable to staff another 23 campuses, so CCSD began contracting their own armed School Security Officers (SSOs). Their work is similar but not identical to an SRO.

“That SSO is truly only committed to the physical protection of the building, and that includes the protecting of our staff and students,” Pruitt said.

Meanwhile, SROs say they become part of the school community.

Officers often work to improve students’ view on law enforcement, help with health and safety instruction and develop relationships with students.