Gov. Henry McMaster traveled to Tyger River Elementary School in Spartanburg County on Aug. 27 to declare victory in his years-long effort to put a trained police officer in every S.C. public school.
McMaster’s push to fund SROs began in 2018 when only about 400 of the state’s 1,283 public schools had at least one full-time officer on-site. His Wednesday event celebrated an additional $29 million in this year’s state budget to fully fund the final 177 trained officers needed.
But there’s still a little way to go. At this point, 119 of the 177 recently-funded positions are reportedly still waiting to be filled.
“For years, we have made it our mission to ensure that every student, teacher, and staff member is protected by an armed, certified, full-time school resource officer (SRO) in every school, in every county, all day, every day,” McMaster said. “And now we have finished the job.”
S.C. Department of Public Safety Deputy Director Mike Oliver pledged to begin hiring qualified officers without delay.
“The funding is now in place to put an SRO in every remaining school across the state, and that is exactly what we are going to do,” he said.
But even as he counted a win in the SRO effort, the term-limited McMaster plugged another goal that’s almost within reach as his final term winds up next year — raising the minimum teacher’s salary to $50,000.
“We’ve got to have the very best teachers and they can’t work for free,” McMaster said. “We need to pay ’em and we need to pay ’em well.”
In May, state lawmakers raised the state’s minimum teacher’s salary by $1,500 to $48,500. McMaster said he was “confident” they’d finish the job when they return for next year’s session in January.
In other recent news
Supreme Court’s Jackson set for talk on Sept. 2 in Charleston. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a fresh voice that has emerged and is maturing, will be in Charleston for a talk Sept. 2.
Former S.C. House Speaker Lucas seeks Few’s seat on state Supreme Court bench. Incumbent S.C. Supreme Court Justice John Cannon Few will go up against three other candidates, including former state House Speaker Jay Lucas, as he seeks re-election to another 10-year term on the state’s highest court.
S.C. hands-free driving law goes into effect next week. Under the new law, drivers will be prohibited from holding or supporting a cellphone with any part of their body. Similar devices, including portable computers, GPS receivers and electronic games, are also covered under the ban.
Education agency oversight hearing gets tense. During a state Legislative Oversight Committee meeting to review the S.C. Department of Education, things got tense when a lawmaker brought up book bans.
Taxpayer tab to investigate state accounting errors now over $11M. That total is up by more than $3 million since March, a records search finds.
Former S.C. Ports CEO to get nearly $1M severance package. The S.C. State Ports Authority will pay nearly $1 million in a severance package for Barbara Melvin, the maritime agency’s former president and CEO who abruptly resigned last week.
S.C.-1: Last pilot out of Afghanistan enters S.C. congressional race. Alex Pelbath, the Air Force pilot who flew the last U.S. aircraft out of Kabul, is now running for Congress in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, calling himself a “Trump conservative” and pledging to be the political reinforcement the president needs.
Trump administration orders S.C. to remove ‘gender ideology’ from sex-ed material. South Carolina could lose more than a million dollars in federal funding if it does not comply with a new order from the Trump administration.
High chemical pollution in S.C. river sparks call for cleanup.. Environmentalists are demanding action to clean up contaminants from Sumter’s wastewater plant which discharges toxic forever chemicals into the Pocotaligo River, threatening public health. Levels are among the highest in the nation, according to this report.
‘Swatting’ hoax led to active shooter alert at USC. A quickly revoked University of South Carolina active shooter warning was the result of a so-called ‘swatting’ hoax, campus police said.
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