HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) —
Funding for school resource officers at four schools in Hendersonville is up in the air.
Bruce Drysdale Elementary, Hendersonville Elementary, Hendersonville Middle and Hendersonville High schools — part of the Henderson County Public Schools district — are currently staffed by Hendersonville Police Department SROs.
But, county officials have discussed the possibility of no longer funding those positions.
“No funding has been pulled. This was a discussion in last Wednesday’s budget retreat with the board of commissioners where we go line by line through the entire budget, talking with every single department in the county. No decision has been made about anything within the budget for fiscal year 2024, 2025, which will start in July,” the county’s chief communications officer Mike Morgan said via email.
Word of the discussion, though, has reached Hendersonville leaders, who are weighing their options.
If the county pulls its funding, it would create a $305,000 hole in the Hendersonville budget, a city spokesperson said. Council members will discuss the issue during a workshop meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the city Operations Center in Hendersonville.
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One option would be for the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office to take over the SRO role at those schools. It’s not clear if that is something county officials are considering or how much that would cost.
Efforts to reach the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office have so far been unsuccessful.
For fiscal year 2024, the county paid $250,000 to the city to supplement the SRO positions at those four schools. That was 82% of their cost, Morgan said.
The written mutual funding agreement between the city and county dates to October o2021.