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The fact that Wednesday was the one-year anniversary of the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 students and two teachers slain had little to do with the joint session of the Lincoln County School Board and County Commissioners.  

There have been other school shootings since Uvalde, most recently the one in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 27th where six people including three children were killed.  

Why now?  Members of the School Board say parents have expressed concern with the lack of School Resource Officers at the County's elementary schools.  All of the high schools and middle schools have an assigned Resource Officer, but none of the elementary schools.  The School Board wants the Commissioners to pay for SROs at the elementary schools.  Commissioners had already completed their fiscal year 2024 budget discussions including the Schools budget, and say that the Schools said the amount approved for them in those discussions was sufficient.  Now, they are asking for more money.  

Commissioners have already decided on a tax rate that is 20% lower than in 2022 but with revaluation means most taxpayers will still see an increase in their tax bill come July.  

Thursday's discussion lasted nearly three hours, but when it was done, no action was taken.  It's expected that the Schools may present their case again at one of the June Commissioners' meetings.  

Thursday's discussion was behind closed doors.  The meeting had been announced as a closed session.

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