Bill > H332

This bill establishes a School Resource Officer Grant Program and a dedicated fund to support it, aiming to enhance safety and order in middle and high schools. The program, administered by the board in consultation with the Board of Education, will provide matching grants to local law enforcement agencies and school boards that collaborate to hire uniformed school resource officers. These officers, defined as certified law enforcement officers employed by local law enforcement agencies to serve public schools, will be tasked with ensuring safety, preventing truancy and violence, and enforcing school rules. The fund, which is nonreverting and will retain any interest earned, can also be used to disburse up to five percent annually for officer training. The board, in consultation with the commissioner and the Department on Public Safety, will set criteria for grant awards, including the amount of the local match based on the locality's financial capacity, and may establish guidelines for the program and the officers' roles.