With word of a high school shooting today in Illinois broken up by a school resource officer (SRO), the issue of adding SROs in Westport took on a new urgency, First Selectman Jim Marpe told the Board of Finance tonight.
After a meeting with Schools Superintendent Colleen Palmer and Police Chief Foti Koskinas earlier in the day, Marpe said he will fast track a $320,000 appropriation request to add two SROs to the schools in the fall.
He said he would bring the funding request to the board in June and to the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) in July.
In answer to a question, Marpe said he and school officials and police were working on a long-term plan for SROs and noted that he had heard requests from residents to eventually add up to eight SROs to cover every school.
