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COMMISSION WILL REVIEW BUDGET CONCERNS OVER CM-HS DEPUTY - Special Meeting Set Thursday |
| (10/13/2009) |
| A proposal by Calhoun Sheriff Allen Parsons and project director Shari Johnson to place a deputy sheriff at Calhoun Middle-High School using grant money, will be discussed during a third special meeting with the Calhoun Commission Thursday evening at 6 p.m. The commission agreed to submit the grant six days before it was due last Spring, contingent upon reviewing what additional costs the hire might have on the county budget. While the grant, approved by the state several months late, pays for the salary and administrative costs, the commission has expressed concern about a fifth police cruiser for the sheriff's department, it's operation and maintenance, and other mandatory costs associated with the project. The commission, upon submitting the grant, was clear they needed several issues addressed before they would approve the project, facing a tightening county budget. During an earlier meeting, the commission declined to approve the hiring of Charles McCroskey, after Sheriff Parsons hired the officer prior to the grant being approved. Parsons said he went ahead and hired McCroskey because the Prevention Resource Officer was required to attend scheduled training. During the last commission meeting, president Bob Weaver raised a paper with a dollar sign, indicating the commission was not against the placement of a school officer, "We just want to know how much this will cost taxpayers?" Weaver and commissioners Helmick and Westfall continued to remind the sheriff, Shari Johnson and Charles McCroskey, about how tight the county budget is, likely worsening during the next year. While the PRO school officer is being reviewed by the commission, the sheriff's budget indicates a shortfall of $38,730 in law enforcement salaries, likely linked to the hiring of deputy Jeff Starcher, a position not budgeted by the sheriff. Meanwhile, the sheriff has made some line item adjustments to reduce the salary shortfall. During the last special meeting, Sheriff Parsons continued to make a case for the officer at Calhoun Middle-High School, describing critical behavioral problems at the school. Following another meeting where the sheriff elaborated on drug problems and sex in the hallways, Calhoun Middle-School principal Karen Kirby, in a press release, denied the intensity of such problems in the school.
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