Resource Officer In Every Boone County School Made Permanent

By Mike Perleberg Boone County Sheriff Michael Helmig. File photo. (Boone County, Ind.) - All Boone County and Walton-Verona schools will have an armed officer in each building starting next school year. The Boone County Board of Education, Walton-Verona Independent School District, Boone County Sheriff’s Office, and Boone County Fiscal Court made a joint announcement Tuesday that a full-time deputy will man each school starting with the 2018-2019 academic year. The schools and sheriff’s office had put a resource officer in each school, including elementary schools, as a stop-gap measure on February 23rd following the Valentine’s Day shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Previously, only high and middle schools had resource officers. “The existing plan has been met with great appreciation from our community,” said Boone County Schools Superintendent Dr. Randy Poe. “Therefore, our board of education has worked with the sheriff’s department to make it permanent moving forward.” Boone County Schools superintendent Randy Poe said the plan has been met with great appreciation from the community. Poe and Walton-Verona Schools Superintendent Robert Storer worked with Boone County Judge Executive Gary Moore, Boone County Commissioners, and Sheriff Michael Helmig to develop the plan to equip every school with its own school resource officer. A press conference on the school resources officer plan will take place on a date yet to be announced, the school district said. So far, the Boone County Board of Education has resisted calls to arm teachers. The subject is expected to be discussed when advocates of armed teachers plan to attend the school board's meeting on Thursday. RELATED STORIES: Boone Co. Sheriff Announces Plan To Put Armed Deputies In Schools