(FAUCETT, Mo.) A push to increase safety at rural Buchanan County schools could come down to taxpayers.
Sheriff Mike Strong says is the use tax measure passes, he'll put some of the money toward officers to patrol the schools.
In the Mid-Buchanan County School District, Resource Officer Sarah Hardin patrols the halls.
Every day she works to make sure the building is a safe place.
"I'm inside the building already. So there's no response time as opposed to the deputy that's out in the county somewhere, and having to respond to an incident at the school," she says.
As a resource officer, that's just one of the services she offers.
She understands juvenile issues, including mental health, helps the school with intruder training, and deters trouble.
"When kids get into altercations with other kids, I think having her here actually makes the kids think 'Ok wait a minute, it's not just the principal I'll have to deal with, it's also that school officer,'" says David Rapp, principal at Mid-Buch.
After so many shooting tragedies, this kind of presence is something that's been on the minds of many across the country.
One of them, Buchanan County Sheriff Mike Strong.
"It's the first line of defense. If you can kind of equate it to, and they are, their own little community, and you have a chief or a sheriff in each little community," says Strong.
But right now, Hardin is the only resource officer in rural Buchanan County schools.
Strong recently proposed that can change, if voters pass the use tax in April.
"It's important to have those in the schools. I'm a big advocate of it, and I would consider that a really big accomplishment for this administration," Strong says.
Hiring four new officers to serve the other rural schools would cost the county around $435,000.
It's a big number, but Buchanan County commissioners say the use tax could handle it.
"Hopefully at least twice that, but again in the first year, there's going to be start-up costs, where you may need additional vehicles, equipment, and training costs, and then that will go down significantly years after that," says RT Turner, Presiding Commissioner in Buchanan County.
For a resource officer like Hardin who sees the difference she makes every day, she hopes others get the chance to fill the role in other schools too.
"It's a valuable resource they would have inside their building all day long for their staff as well as their students, it's invaluable this day and age with the violence that goes on inside schools," she says.
However, voters will have to decide if the use tax is worth it.
Commissioners are making some changes to the use tax on the April ballot this time around.
The measure includes a ten-year sunset, and property taxes would not go up during that time.
Sheriff Mike Strong says is the use tax measure passes, he'll put some of the money toward officers to patrol the schools.
In the Mid-Buchanan County School District, Resource Officer Sarah Hardin patrols the halls.
Every day she works to make sure the building is a safe place.
"I'm inside the building already. So there's no response time as opposed to the deputy that's out in the county somewhere, and having to respond to an incident at the school," she says.
As a resource officer, that's just one of the services she offers.
She understands juvenile issues, including mental health, helps the school with intruder training, and deters trouble.
"When kids get into altercations with other kids, I think having her here actually makes the kids think 'Ok wait a minute, it's not just the principal I'll have to deal with, it's also that school officer,'" says David Rapp, principal at Mid-Buch.
After so many shooting tragedies, this kind of presence is something that's been on the minds of many across the country.
One of them, Buchanan County Sheriff Mike Strong.
"It's the first line of defense. If you can kind of equate it to, and they are, their own little community, and you have a chief or a sheriff in each little community," says Strong.
But right now, Hardin is the only resource officer in rural Buchanan County schools.
Strong recently proposed that can change, if voters pass the use tax in April.
"It's important to have those in the schools. I'm a big advocate of it, and I would consider that a really big accomplishment for this administration," Strong says.
Hiring four new officers to serve the other rural schools would cost the county around $435,000.
It's a big number, but Buchanan County commissioners say the use tax could handle it.
"Hopefully at least twice that, but again in the first year, there's going to be start-up costs, where you may need additional vehicles, equipment, and training costs, and then that will go down significantly years after that," says RT Turner, Presiding Commissioner in Buchanan County.
For a resource officer like Hardin who sees the difference she makes every day, she hopes others get the chance to fill the role in other schools too.
"It's a valuable resource they would have inside their building all day long for their staff as well as their students, it's invaluable this day and age with the violence that goes on inside schools," she says.
However, voters will have to decide if the use tax is worth it.
Commissioners are making some changes to the use tax on the April ballot this time around.
The measure includes a ten-year sunset, and property taxes would not go up during that time.
