Jefferson County KY Public Schools plan for school security officers includes 100 hours of training
LOUISVILLE, Ky. Jan 21, 2022 Jefferson County Public Schools is working out the details of what the role of a school safety officer will look like.
The district’s policy committee met Wednesday night to discuss more about SSO training, who they will report to, and what this new initiative could cost.
“I do believe this four or five million dollar investment in school safety will be a difference maker for our students,” said JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio.
Under Kentucky state law, SSOs are required to undergo 40 hours of training from the state.
But JCPS will require an additional 60 hours covering a range of topics like diversity and bias awareness training, de-escalation strategies, and trauma-informed action.
SSOs will be trained law officers, but employed by JCPS, reporting to the director of security and investigations.
“SSOs will be JCPS staff, they’ll be classified employees. They’ll be governed by all policies and procedures,” said a district administrator.
Right now, JCPS has 15 district security monitors who are already sworn law officers and respond to schools as needed. The district plans to transition those monitors to SSOs and hire 15 more.
JCPS’s policy committee will meet again on Monday where they’ll review the hiring process and other procedures for SSOs.
