Alabama’s largest school system, for the first time, is adding armed law enforcement officers to some of its schools.

The Mobile County Public School System, through unanimous approval from the School Board on Monday, agreed to spend approximately $1.8 million annually for 12 deputies within the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.

The hiring was part of a memorandum of understanding, also approved Monday by the Mobile County Commission. That agreement allows the Sheriff’s deputies to be employed full-time within the school system and assigned to one of its high schools.

“In our opinion, this is the best option for us,” said board member Douglas Harwell.

The agreement comes at no cost to the county commission.

“A sheriff’s deputy is a sworn officer, and so I think it adds another level,” said Commissioner Connie Hudson. “The security officers would have to call the sheriff’s department to get the deputies on site, so it’s having someone on site who can potentially, if necessary, react quicker.”

Andy Gatewood, director of safety and security with Mobile County Public Schools, said he is hoping to add the new deputies “as soon as possible,” but noted there are some logistical challenges that need to be resolved such as getting vehicles in place and hiring the deputies.

Mobile County Commissioner Randell Dueitt, who used to work in the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, said he hoped that recently retired law enforcement officers, who can pull from their pension while still earning money, would be interesting in taking on the role.

“They’re young they’re in their late 40s, early 50s,” Dueitt said. “It’ll give them the opportunity to draw their retirement and also be able to supplement their retirement by working in the schools, and they’re more than capable.”

The 12 armed deputies will join the dozen unarmed student resource officers who have played a role within the school system’s security since 2007. The unarmed SROs will remain within their schools, helping to develop relationships with students and assisting in security issues, Gatewood said.

Gatewood said he anticipates the deputies receiving training through the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), based in Hoover. He said they will undergo active shooter training and will be required to get familiarized with the schools within their assigned feeder pattern. Each feeder pattern is anchored by a high school and includes its middle and elementary schools. The district’s high schools are: Mary G. Montgomery, B.C. Rain, Citronelle, Baker, Blount, Williamson, Murphy, Davidson, John L. LeFlore Magnet, Vigor, Theodore, and Alma Bryant.

“I want them to learn their campuses inside and out,” Gatewood said. “With that many campuses, and if we have an issue in a classroom or a cafeteria or gymnasium, they will be able to know exactly where to go and when to get there.”

Mobile County schools has long held off on adding armed law enforcement officers, despite a growing number of public school systems throughout the state adding NASRO-certified SROs to their systems.

Baldwin County Schools, the state’s third-largest district, was among the first in the state to add armed SROs in 2018. The school system made the move less than one month after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead.

Baldwin County Schools now employ 56 SROs including supervisors who can float to campuses as needed, said Chasity Riddick, a school spokeswoman. She said that each of the district’s school campuses have at least one SRO, but “many have more than that based on the size and the need.”

Smaller school systems are also adding SROs. Elmore County Schools, based in Wetumpka, has 14 SROs and 16 schools.

Gatewood said the addition of armed law enforcement officers in Mobile County has been part of a “progression” for the school system on school safety.

“We have seen that unfortunately things throughout the country have not necessarily gotten better as far as the violent acts occurring,” he said. “I think we realize that this is an additional layer we can put into place.”

School board member Johnny Hatcher said that adding armed law enforcement officers at the schools was a priority of his after he was sworn in as a new board member in December. The issue has also been a priority of other school board members, including Reginald Crenshaw, who pitched the idea last year of establishing a police force within the school system.

“It has been a long time (coming),” Harwell said.

Sherry Dillihay-McDade, the board’s president, said the new deputies are part of a pilot program that could lead to hiring of additional armed deputies who would be placed within middle or elementary schools.

Hatcher said he believed having deputies at as many schools as possible serves as the “most logical way to secure” the buildings.

“I’m a fan of immediate action,” he said. “These deputies will have access to high-power weaponry and body armor so when they go into these schools (during a troubling incident) they will be prepared. I want to make sure whoever is doing harm to our children doesn’t leave on their own (accord). Period.”