Gov. Mike Pence established a matched grant system for school corporations and a training program for school resource officers May 7 when he signed Senate Enrolled Act 1 into law.
The Indiana Secured School Fund grant through the Indiana Department of Homeland Security will offer up to $50,000 for school corporations and charter schools with more than 1,000 students or up to $35,000 for those with fewer than 1,000 students.
According to incoming Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation Superintendent Mike Wilcox, school corporations or charter schools can match the grant in one of two ways. They can contribute the same amount of money or they can match the grant in physical equipment such as security cameras.
In order to qualify, the school corporation or charter school must get a school safety plan approved by the school safety commission in its home county and the state’s Secured School Safety Board.
If the county school safety commission approves the safety plan, an application is sent to the state’s Secured School Safety Board for approval.
School corporations and charter schools can use this money to employ a school resource officer, conduct threat assessments or purchase safety equipment and technology.
The Indiana General Assembly set aside $20 million in the 2013 state budget for this program.
School resource officer candidates will have to complete 40 hours of certified school resource officer training before starting the job.
The bill requires that law enforcement agencies report to the school corporation or charter school if they apprehend a student because of suspected mental illness, danger or need of hospitalization and treatment.
School resource officers are exempt from firearm possession laws on school property.
The state will protect school corporations and charter schools from loss in case of injury in connection to the school resource officer’s weapon as a result of his or her transgression, wrongdoing or intentional failure.
Wilcox said he is supportive of a “traditional” school resource officer “without being armed. I think that’s very positive.”
These unarmed officers act as a deterrent for violence by being a presence on the school grounds.
The law also establishes the School Safety Interim Study Committee to investigate how to improve school safety and develop best practices for school resource officers.
“This is the greatest commitment from the state of Indiana to encourage corporations to look at the possibility of a resource officer if they don’t have one yet,” Wilcox said.
The law will take effect in July.
Originally published in Ellettsville Journal, 2013. Republished here for archival and portfolio purposes.