FULTON, Illinois -- The River Bend School Board has approved a new risk management plan that includes adding a school resource officer.
The officer will spend 90 percent of the time in Fulton High School but will also visit the middle and elementary schools in the district.
The school board's plan will move a current Fulton police officer into this position and hire a new officer to fulfill the old position. The city council will decide on the plan sometime next month.
The school board will pay 70 percent of the total cost, and the city will pay the rest.
Fulton City Administrator, Randy Boonstra, says it will cost roughly $70,000 to hire a school resource officer and hire a new officer for the Fulton Police Department.
Superintendent Darryl Hogue says after experiencing a threat that resulted in a lock down at Fulton High School in February and then seeing a school shooting unfold less than an hour away in Dixon, he wants to do what he can to keep students safe.
"Us experiencing our own situation, the Dixon situation, we have really tripled, quadrupled our efforts to increase safety and security," Hogue said.
Hogue says he has seen strong support from the community.
" I think it's great for the kids to have someone they can trust and go to if there are any issues going on in the schools. It's just great," River Bend School District Parent Marie Meyers says.
If the plan is approved, the city and the school board hope to have the resource officer in schools by September.
