Bill Would Put School Resource Officer in Every Maryland Public School.

AP Photo

CAMBRIDGE, Md.- Keeping schools safe has been one of the biggest priorities on lawmaker's and school board member's minds for years. This week, a bill was introduced in Annapolis to address those concerns.

It calls for an armed school resource officer in every Maryland public school. It is a move parents like Robin Stanley support.

"Safety first, and relationship building, mentoring, I think they can supply all of that for the children," said Stanley.

WBOC spoke with a number of school districts that said they support any initiative that gets more school resource officers in their buildings. Even the Dorchester County sheriff said the idea behind this legislation is "amazing."

Dr. Lorenzo Hughes, an assistant superintendent for Dorchester county schools, said the officers have been an asset.

"Their presence actually contributes quite a bit as a deterrent to people from the outside who's looking to do harm, or actually, unfortunately, sometimes we have those inside who might be thinking about things that actually sometimes just their physical presence is a deterrent," said Hughes.

Some parents, while they see the virtues of the officers, aren't sure every single school needs one.

"I think across the board, if every school in the state gets one, it could be wasteful fiscally. Not irresponsible, but fiscally wasteful," said Morgan Mann.

The 900 additional officers would be paid for using $100 million annually from the education trust fund, reimbursed to the schools.

The bill can be found

here.

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