The Deer/Mt. Judea School District Board of Education approved sending interested school staff members to take emergency response training last summer. The board had met earlier in 2024 with Kurt Banta, owner of Emergency Response Training LLC, based in Gentry, about creating a district-wide security department and securing training for commissioned school security officers (CSSO). At the end of that meeting the board named
Emergency Response Training LLC provided CSSO training to school staff members to serve additionally as security personnel. This is a viable option to the school district paying a School Resource Officer (SRO) employed by the local police department or sheriff's office. Banta said his philosophy behind starting this business is that a school campus should have armed security present at all times.
Small school districts having multiple campuses may only be financially able to hire a single SRO who has to schedule time between the campuses or buildings. Having trained staff as CSSO ensures a constant security presence in every building. The CSSO sole responsibility is providing security, unlike an SRO who has other law enforcement duties and could be called away to respond to situations where the officer's superiors feel the officer is needed, said Banta. The only duty of a CSSO is to provide safety and security for students and other staff members.
For about the same cost of hiring a SRO a school district can train 12 CSSOs, Banta said.
