The Town of Pilot Mountain on Monday requested Surry County Board of Commissioner to fully fund the salary of a school resource officer at Pilot Mountain Elementary, a request the board unanimously approved.
The school district and board of education members in attendance reiterated there was no coverage gap at the middle school in the current school year; a deputy on site is being paid for by the school board at an hourly rate.
“We are happy to be a partner in any way we can,” Pilot Mountain Town Manager Michael Boaz said in presenting the request.
“We’re happy to have that person be a part of Pilot Mountain Police or the Surry County Sheriff’s Office — we are not picky. If they are one of our officers, we’re happy to provide equipment and a vehicle.”
There is a question of fairness, Mayor Evan Cockerham said. “I believe that the taxpayers who send their children to Pilot Mountain Elementary School deserve the same service as the taxpayers who send their children to... any other school in the Surry County School District.”
“In the past, the town of Pilot Mountain has assisted Surry County Schools with placing an SRO at Pilot Mountain Elementary. Unfortunately, the school district was unable to continue their share of the funding and the town board of commissioners decided to withdraw theirs as well,” he said.
Board of Education member Tony Hutchens said, “We got four SRO from you guys this year and you will never know how grateful we are...You guys gave us a gift and it looks like we’re going to have to do this thing again. I hate that we are standing before you tonight asking for it one more time.”
“We requested four this year, and you gave us four because that’s what we thought we needed as of April 30,” board of education chair Dale Badgett said.
Surry County Schools Superintendent Dr. Travis Reeves said, “We had a memorandum of understanding with the Town of Pilot Mountain, and it was a two-year memorandum of understanding that went through 2025. So, it wasn’t really on my radar screen knowing that we had signed an agreement for a two-year program.”
In January, Reeves said he reached out to the town to inquire about school resource coverage at Pilot Elementary as there had been no officer assigned since the investigation into the Pilot Mountain Police Department lead to dismissal of members of the force, including the officer who had been assigned to the school. The principal of the school had also expressed concerns to Reeves, he said.
When Reeves first discussed needs for the current budget year in February, he alerted the board that a request for four school resource officers would be coming. That budget process continued with more meetings, and more planning sessions, all based around the assumption that only four officers were needed.
“My board, you’ve heard them say tonight, if they thought they needed five, we would have asked for five in February,” Reeves said. “It wasn’t until May 24 that I received a phone call, or I had a phone conversation, with the mayor regarding the inability to fund the position... well after our budget presentation to you on at April 30.”
“There was never in any intent on behalf of the board to not have an officer at every school. The intent’s always been to have an officer at every school always has been the that intent,” Reeves said.
Vice Chair Mark Marion discussed the memorandum of understanding between the town and the county that was signed in January 2023 and was set to run through June 30, 2025, that said, “The parties shall review the terms of the MOU annually and may amend it at any time in writing.”
“To my understanding, there was no mutual agreement... Pilot Mountain broke the memorandum of understanding bottom line. We would have loved to know that when we’re taking all our votes, but we didn’t,” Marion said.
“I wish we would have known it because I personally went to the school board and I went to the sheriff’s department, and even in public in our budget meetings I asked more than once how many SROs we need?” Commissioner Larry Johnson recalled.
“The bottom line for us is that we communicated from the beginning of our budgeting discussions in March that our position was to staff an SRO while seeking fairness for the city taxpayers we represent,” Mayor Evan Cockerham said this week. “We presented an alternative funding proposal to the county commissioners in earnest.”
Commissioner Bill Goins tried to make lemonade of the situation noting a chance to improve communication between the county and the municipalities. “I think we have good partnerships with our municipalities. This this board wants to be a partner with our municipalities, but we also want to know things, and when you decided not to fund this position, this board should have known.”
Cockerham also said, “I would remind everyone that this is the third option that the Pilot Mountain Board of Commissioners have come to the table with to fund an SRO at this county school. Politics have no place when it comes to ensuring a safe, quality education for Surry County’s children so we will work to build bridges and move forward.”
After determining the board was in consensus to fund the school resource officer, County Manager Chris Knopf said at the next meeting there would be a budget amendment to get the process moving. Chair Van Tucker encouraged the Town of Pilot Mountain to reconsider their position and welcomed them back as a financial partner in funding the officer any time.
- Also Monday, Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt sent notification that K-9 Officer Ace has been removed from active duty “due to a decline in performance ability and health consistent with required standards.”
Ace will retire from the Surry County Sheriff’s Office with the thanks of the community and will be released to his former handler, Detective Sergeant Brandon Johnson, for additional “attaboys” and belly rubs.
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