Anxious

Coweta County parents will have to wait a least a week to

find out if police officers will be present in all four

of the county's middle schools this year.

County

administrator Theron Gay told the Coweta County Board of

Commissioners Tuesday morning that school officials had

agreed to fund half the salaries for new resource

officers and also to pay for the officers' vehicles.

But until

Gay had the actual written contract in his hand, he did

not want to commit the county to anything and asked the

commissioners to delay the vote another week.

At an

earlier meeting, Sheriff Mike Yeager estimated the cost

of funding the three new officers at just over $150,000 a

year. The cost includes salaries, benefits and equipment,

along with a vehicle for each officer.

Adding

three new officers would greatly improve the security at

the schools, the sheriff added.

"This

year we had a problem at East Coweta Middle School and

the resource officer was at Madras Middle. That's a long

way to drive," he said.

The

sheriff's department was able to send an officer to East

Coweta Middle, but Yeager said the real solution is

having an officer at each school.

The county

currently shares the personnel costs of the one middle

school resource officer with the Coweta County Board of

Education.

The

commissioners hailed the program as one that is truly

necessary.

"Middle

school is probably where a child is the most

impressionable," said Commissioner Robert Wood.

Commissioner

Vernon "Mutt" Hunter said he had suggested

funding the middle school resource officers a few years

ago, but the proposal was dropped.

He said he

was glad to see it back before the commission and said

the idea has his full support.

The

commission is expected to receive the school system's

written support by the end of the week and vote on the

proposal at their July 13 meeting.

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