Horry County School Board members vote to have security at Elementary Schools
Horry County, S.C. Dec 13 2017 Horry County School Board members took the first step to hire security guards for the county’s youngest students Monday night.
Board members voted unanimously to expand the current security contract to include elementary schools. They also voted to allow staff to immediately begin recruitment, even though a final vote won’t happen until January.
Currently, only high schools and middle schools have guards.
“We haven’t had any students perish in fires but we do a lot to protect the building from fires,” School Board Chairman Joe Defeo explained. “Well, we need to do the same thing to protect them from an active shooter situation, or a disgruntled person, or whomever.”
The extra guards will cost the district $238,000, which will be drawn from the general fund this year and worked into future budgets.
The total amount spent on security will still be half the cost of the former contract between the district and the Horry County Police Department.
WPDE
