The Carson City Board Supervisors signed off unanimously Thursday on a federal grant that will allow for the formation of a School Resource Officer Program run through the sheriff’s office and the Carson City School District.
The $375,000 grant was awarded last month by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. The Board of Supervisors agreed to make a commitment in turn to help fund the program, anticipated to be around $900,000 total over the next three years.
The local amount needed in order to complete the program is $502,000. The Carson City School District will pick up 50 percent of that, with Supervisors having agreed Thursday to commitment to the other half.
The grant will partially fund three officers for three years, with a mandatory one year retention period. The grant award tops off a three-year effort to develop a Carson City School Resource Officer Program, dedicated to the schools and functionally operated out of the sheriff’s office, said Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong. The grant provides for salaries and benefits of three officers who will work alongside youth 12 months a year both inside and outside the classroom.
The endeavor has been long in the coming and expected to enhance the welfare, safety and health of all of our students and staff of the schools, said Furlong.
"The visionary goal of the grant is that all of our schools and occupants are safest when our children are at their desks receiving the highest quality of education affordable,” the sheriff said earlier this month.