CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – After initially saying they would cut the funding for school resource officers, the Town of Christiansburg is ready to have them back in schools come August.
Back in January, the Christiansburg Town Council voted to cut funding to its school resource officer program come July 1.
The town wanted Montgomery County to fund these positions, saying the schools are Montgomery County’s responsibility, despite their location within Christiansburg town limits.
At the beginning of the previous school year, the town wanted to be reimbursed as they funded SROs in three Christiansburg schools.
“We had asked the board of supervisors for $203,000 almost a year ago and they flatly said no,” Mayor Michael Barber said.
The town council says they have been trying to meet with the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors to come to some sort of agreement but nothing was ever set in stone.
With the school year quickly approaching, a decision needed to be made. On Tuesday, the Christiansburg town council approved an agreement that would make them provide three SRO positions and the county provide an additional three.
“There was kind of a moral victory for us in this thing in that they, the county has agreed to provide three deputies to fill the gap for the three schools that did not have school resource officers,” Barber said.
Barber says his council is not giving up in terms of trying to get reimbursed. However, at the end of the day, the most important thing is our kids’ safety.
“It was disappointing but I’m not going to let and our council is not going to let our Christiansburg students or any student that attends a Christiansburg strained school, feel insecure or be unprotected,” Barber said.