Governor Henry McMaster announced that South Carolina has secured final funding to place an armed, certified, full-time school resource officer (SRO) in every public school across the state. The announcement was made in Columbia alongside officials from the Department of Public Safety (SCDPS), members of the General Assembly, and other leaders.
“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 in every school, in every county, all day, every day – and now we have finished the job,” said Governor Henry McMaster. “This achievement makes South Carolina a national leader in school safety and provides us all peace of mind knowing our schools are protected.”
Placing a full-time SRO in each of South Carolina’s 1,283 public schools became a priority for Governor McMaster starting in 2018. At that time there were only 406 full-time SROs statewide. Since then, increased funding from the General Assembly and management changes—moving oversight from the Department of Education to SCDPS—have aimed to improve coordination and efficiency.
At the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year, 1,106 schools had a full-time SRO while 177 remained without coverage. This year’s budget included $29.4 million to fund positions for these remaining schools. Since July’s funding approval, SCDPS awarded funds for 58 new positions and opened applications for another 119 roles on August 5.
“I am proud to help ensure law enforcement has the tools they need to succeed, because in South Carolina, supporting our schools and law enforcement has always been a top priority,” said S.C. Senator Shane Martin. “That’s why, when we saw the need to place a resource officer in every school, every senator supported it unanimously, and the House passed it as well. Now, the funding is there, we just need the right officers to fill the roles.”
“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,” said DPS Deputy Director Mike Oliver. “Our priority is keeping kids safe, and we are fortunate to have an administration that looks out for our teachers and law enforcement.”
Additional initiatives led by Governor McMaster include establishing a Center for School Safety and Targeted Violence at SLED through legislation signed into law last year. The center trains law enforcement personnel as well as educators on active shooter response and violence prevention strategies.
For three consecutive years $20 million annually has been allocated for security upgrades at schools through grants managed by the Department of Education; these funds go toward improvements such as stronger door locks and secure entry points.
In addition to staffing measures and facility upgrades, $5 million was appropriated this fiscal year for a statewide digital mapping program intended to help emergency responders locate incidents more quickly within school campuses.
