June 20th, 2019 by WCBC Radio

When the promises of a political campaign meet up with fiscal realities- following through on those ledges can prove a daunting task- as was the case with Robert Farrell’s hopes of having an armed security officer in every school in the system. Farrell, a retired Maryland Police officer and former chief of security for the school system, now serves as president of the Allegany County Board of Education. While campaigning for the office last summer and fall, Farrell identified a school resource officer in every school as a top priority. He reiterated that commitment during his initial meetings as an elected board member…

During the campaign, Farrell talked of trimming what he called some of the frivolous expenses in the budget- to allow for the hire of enough SRO’s to cover every school. When the board finalized its budget this week, Farrell acknowledged that it doesn’t appear that will be possible at this time…

The budget approved did include $105,000 to cover the cost of three new SRO’s- bringing the system’s total to 9- 13 short of providing system wide coverage.