Arizona officials make $48 million available for hiring of armed campus officers, counselors

PHOENIX — Arizona education officials announced Monday they have voted to make $48 million in school safety funding available for schools to hire armed campus officers and counselors.

The additional money comes from Arizona Department of Education funding granted to schools that was carried over from the previous year but wasn’t fully used. The state’s education board voted Monday to carry over the money so schools can apply for it.

“Making sure schools have armed officers on campus to protect students, educators and staff is one of my highest priorities,” Superintendent Tom Horne said in a press release. “The sad reality is that we must ensure that if an armed maniac attacks a campus, there is a trained law enforcement officer on site to respond.”

All requests for armed law enforcement officers must be fulfilled with the money for counselors and social workers, per state law.

More on Arizona funding for armed campus officers

Of the $48 million, about $39.5 million will pay for nearly 200 school resource/school safety officers. The remaining funding will pay for more than 60 new counselors or social workers.

School resource officers are assigned full time to a campus, while school safety officers use multiple personnel for full-time coverage on a campus.

All schools throughout the state are eligible to apply for the funding.

“Of course, we cannot afford to allow this vital funding to go unused, which means schools should contact the department immediately to participate in this program,” Horne said.

Follow @DannyShapiro13