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

See Full Page