BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — For students across Barrow County, the first day of school means new teachers, new classrooms and this year, a bigger security presence on campus.
“At the end of the day, we want our community to see the work that’s being done so that they have confidence that we are putting safety first in all that we do," Barrow County Deputy Superintendent Matt Thompson said.
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The school district is expanding its number of school resource officers. Last September, Barrow County had 15 SROs. That number has grown to 21 with another officer expected to join after completing training.
“Each of our high schools will have two dedicated SROs. All of our middle schools will a dedicated SRO, and most of our elementaries will have very little sharing,” Thompson said. “And as we continue to expand that program, we hope to eventually get to where we have a one-to-one at all of our schools.”
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Leaders reached a new agreement to expand school security services back in the spring. The previous agreement signed in 2017 provided 12 SROs through the sheriff’s office.
Now, the new contract expands up to 25 positions across the district.
“So an SRO is a unique position. It’s not just a deputy sheriff here, it is a unique position where they are actually getting down face-to-face with these young people and letting them know that, hey, this is a person that’s a hero to you, they’re here to protect you,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said.
Barrow County Schools have also spent the last year investing in new safety measures from weapon detection technology to detailed digital school mapping.
Leaders say those layers of security are designed to help first responders react more quickly in an emergency.
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