Morgan County Fiscal Court spending $480,000 to increase school security

The move comes in the wake of the massacre at the elementary school in Texas

WEST LIBERTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – In a rare move, Morgan County Fiscal Court approved spending $480,000 to increase security at every public school in the county in the wake of the school massacre in Texas, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Fiscal courts don’t normally fund school security.  Judge-Executive John Will Stacy told the newspaper the funding isn’t the only answer to stop school violence, but it’s something.  He told the newspaper the county couldn’t sit back and expect Washington to come and protect the county’s children.  He added, there’s nothing more important than keeping children safe and the county is reallocating its resources to protect the county’s number one priority.

Currently, the public school system has one officer assigned to the high school, one to the middle school and none to the county’s four elementary schools.

Judge-Executive Stacy says the money from the county should be enough to have two officers at every school from high school to elementary, according to the report.

The money is coming from the county’s general fund, which includes federal aid money the county received to replace lost revenue due to the pandemic.  The money is for one year only, according to the report.

Schools Superintendent Ralph Hamilton told the newspaper the school system is grateful for the funding, but fears the district may not be able to find enough qualified officers to have two at each school.  He told the paper the district will try to use the money as the fiscal court wanted, but if it can’t put two officers at each school, the district will check whether the fiscal court would be agreeable to using some of the money for other security measures.