The Arizona Department of Education will accept school safety grant applications up to a week after the April 15 deadline. The grants allow schools to get state funds for counselors, social workers or school resource officers.
State Superintendent Tom Horne made the announcement Wednesday and continued to push for armed officers on school campuses. This comes as the Phoenix Union High School District considers bringing back school resource officers. The district got rid of SROs in 2020.
Horne says Phoenix-based O.H. Predictive Insights conducted a statewide poll of about 600 Arizona parents, 81% of whom said they support having a police officer in every school.
“We’ve also sent a letter to mayors — or we’re in the process of sending a letter to mayors, asking them to cooperate with us in getting school resource officers into the schools," Horne said. "We're also asking them to get their police departments to share their data with us which I think is an important part of school safety.”
Horne’s office has said it will prioritize funding for schools that request officers over counselors or social workers.
