By MONA NAIR
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) – Knox County School Board members took the next step Wednesday night to beef up school security.
They approved $218,000 in additional funding to hire 58 school resource officers in schools as soon as possible.
At Tuesday night's forum on school security, parents made it clear they wanted to see action immediately, perhaps sooner than next year.
Board members approved the extra funding in response to those requests.
The hope is to get the 58 officers in training before the new school year begins.
"So we can begin the process of recruiting, hiring, selecting, and training those additional 58 officers. That does not mean we'll have additional officers this school year. But it does mean we'll begin the process prior to July 1," Knox County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre explained.
The funding must be approved by county commissioners. They will meet later in March.
In addition, school board members also gave the okay for a contract audit of some randomly selected Knox County schools. The audit would examine the school's security systems.
Knox County School Board members met Wednesday night to discuss school safety and security options for the next year.
