Montgomery County School Board members are to decide Tuesday whether to hire retired law enforcement officers to help secure the county’s schools.
At first, the retired officers would be posted at four elementary schools that are the only schools in the county without school resource officers. The school resource officers are active members of the county’s law enforcement agencies.
Eventually, according to material presented to the board, the retired officers could also work at other schools as backups to the school resource officers.
The public portion of the board’s meeting, which includes the vote on the retired officers plan, begins at 7 p.m. in the County Government Center in Christiansburg.
The retired officers plan has a price tag of $280,000 for its first year — $200,000 for the salaries of four officers, $68,000 for payroll taxes and health benefits, $6,000 for training, and $6,000 for guns and body armor.
The retired officers would have to have retired no longer than 10 years previously, must have left their former law enforcement employment on good terms and must meet various training requirements.
According to the information presented to the school board, the four schools that do not have school resource officers are Harding Avenue, Gilbert Linkous, Margaret Beeks, and Kipps elementary schools. All four schools are in Blacksburg.
Also Tuesday, the school board will look at an operating budget proposal for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The proposed $154.2 million operating budget is up about 5.2% from the current year.
The proposal estimates that $80.4 million would come from the state, $5.2 million from the federal government and $67.8 million from the county — the last would be a 10.2% increase from the current year.
Another $732,438 is marked as local revenue. The schools also hope to receive about $1.3 million in federal money designated for free student meals.
School officials plan to present a budget proposal to the county in March. Supervisors will adopt an overall county budget and set a total figure for the school system, and the school board is scheduled to adopt its final budget in May.
You can read the school board’s complete agenda and accompanying information here.
