News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Highland Rim Academy has started a new partnership with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department to provide a student resource officer on its campus.
Sheriff Eddie Farris said it is a new partnership as of this year. He said Highland Rim will pay the county $75,000 for its services.
“There’s no more precious resources than our schoolchildren going to school,” Farris said. “So in today’s environment, it just makes sense to keep them safe and the faculty and staff that’s there trying to educate.”
Farris said they are glad to be at Highland Rim and have this connection with its administration. He said they are especially excited as the school plans to transition to its new campus next year.
Farris said because it is a private school, Highland Rim does not qualify for Governor Lee’s funding plan for SROs. However, he said that could change in the future or there could be other funding metrics available. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department received $1.5 million through the plan for its SROs.
“So we’ve come to an agreement worked through some issues not very many at all, it was more state laws that we had to go through, but I think we’ve accomplished that,” Farris said. “But we have signed a memorandum of understanding and a contract as of the first of (last) week. And we’ve been there since school has gone back into sessions so we’re there, we’re on campus, and we’re excited to be there.”
Farris said the department feels that in the future more private schools might utilize county SROs to enhance school safety.
