The Oglethorpe County Board of Education approved hiring two school resource officers — one for the high school — and the other to be shared, for now, between the middle, elementary and primary schools.
“I do believe that this is the Board of Education and Board of Commissioners coming together to (do what’s right),” Superintendent Beverley Levine said at the Tuesday night meeting.
The cost of the officers will be shared between the county and the school district. The Board of Commissioners will have final approval through a memorandum of understanding at its called meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Once the new elementary school is completed, the resource officer will be shared between that building and the middle school.
Meanwhile, the BOE also approved both the new elementary school and the existing elementary school to receive the Centegix safety features that are already in place at the middle and high school
They were funded by fines from the school zone safety cameras that were installed last year.
The BOE also approved the 2024 millage rate at 16.025.
The rate, which is the amount of tax dollars for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value, is an increase from 15.82 in 2023, but less than previous rates of 16.65 in 2022 and 18.40 in 2021.
The board decided to withdraw requests for repair on a bus engine after the three new propane buses purchased earlier by the board arrived this week.
“As soon as we get some propane, we’ll run the buses,” Levine said.