UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Several Union County elementary schools still don’t have dedicated resource officers weeks into the school year, leaving parents worried about safety as the district waits for the sheriff’s office to fill vacant positions.
“It’s just scary knowing no one is there all the time,” parent Nicole Hager said.
Her son’s elementary school doesn’t have a dedicated school resource officer.
The previous one retired at the end of last school year.
“It makes me really nervous,” she said. “I think we’re living in a very scary time where school shootings are a common occurrence. Our kids are going to elementary school practicing lockdowns, active shooter drills and they’re hearing about, but they don’t have someone to protect them.”
Union County elementary schools are currently sharing SROs while middle and high schools have one assigned to each of them.
At the start of the school year, Superintendent Andrew Houlihan told Channel 9 that he wants to get back to the 1-1 ratio, like last spring, but said the Union County Sheriff’s Office didn’t have the staff to fill the positions for the fall.
“That’s a first line of defense for us, as well as the physical hardening of campuses we’ve done to prevent intruders from coming in,” Houlihan said in August. “We take that issue very seriously when it comes to physical safety and well-being of our kids and staff.”
Hager and other parents reached out to Channel 9’s Gina Esposito this week. They want an update from the Union County Public Schools district.
A spokesperson with the Union County Sheriff’s Office told Esposito in an email that they lost more sworn deputies over the past 12-18 months than in past years and they’ve been unable to move deputies from critical patrol positions into SRO spots.
More deputies were just hired. They should start being assigned into the open SRO positions in the next few weeks.
“I’m hopeful, especially as we bring more awareness to it,” Hager said. “Top priority are kids. What is more important that?”
VIDEO: Teachers welcome students on 1st day of school in Union County
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