Deputies could be removed from Scott County Schools due to pay and staffing issues

SCOTTSBURG, Ind. (WDRB) -- Scott County Sheriff's deputies might be pulled out of some schools in Scott County to help with staffing issues.

Scott County Sheriff Jerry Goodin made the announcement in a Facebook post on Oct. 6, saying he's considering reassigning school resource officers from three elementary schools.

Goodin is calling it a "heartbreaking decision."

The sheriff said he has a staffing issue because his deputies are some of the lowest paid in the state. If that doesn't change, he'll have to reassign the school resource officers to street duty.

Deputies start out making just over $46,000 a year.

And if deputies can't get more money, the SROs manning the schools will be needed on the streets. Goodin said that's not what he wants to happen.

"I do not want to have schools without people in them," Goodin said. "I don't want to do that. We've done everything we can do. Now I'm in the corner. I have nowhere else to go."

Goodin is asking the county council for a $5 across the board raise in the proposed 2024 budget.

Goodin said the department has not been able to hire new deputies, and the SROs could be needed for patrol work. The sheriff said his department can't compete with the pay being offered by surrounding departments.

"If I pay my folks $5 (more per hour), it puts us in the middle of the pack of all the surrounding counties, all the surrounding cities," Goodin said.

But it's not clear if that request will be granted.

Meanwhile, Dr. Marc Slaton, the superintendent of Scott County School District 2, said he was notified about the possible decision on Oct. 4.

"Then some things broke over the weekend, a lot of social media things, that developed and kind of made it seem a little more possible," Slaton said. "We were pretty much waiting until this weekend to see how things ultimately played out to see what the sheriff decided after some county meetings."

Slaton said "I struggle because I feel like the school, and more than the school, our children, are kind of being thrown in the middle of a little bit of a political dispute."

Slaton said the school is working to prepare for the possibility of no SROs inside Johnson, Lexington and Vienna-Finley Elementary schools.

However, Slaton said they will be prepared "to the best of their ability" with a backup plan if the SROs are removed.

That plan started taking shape recently. "Before, we had agreements with our city and county governments, we basically hired security officers which were law enforcement officers that were off duty," Slaton said. "So that's one possibility."

There's only a couple of weeks before a decision is made, Slaton said.

"We definitely value what the SROs bring to the table, we value having those relationships in the building," Slaton said.

If there's no pay increase for deputies, Goodin believes things could get worse.

"I've got people that's in line for positions for jobs that are going to stay here if we get this (raise), but if we don't, then it's a slap in the face to them and they're going to go somewhere else where it's a $20,000 increase to them the day they sign the doggone bottom line," Goodin said.

Goodin plans to ask the council to vote on the pay raise during a council meeting set for Oct. 10.