COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Monday that Amazon will invest billions more in data centers in central Ohio.
Licking County has grown because of Amazon, Intel and other major businesses building there, and that growth means a bigger need for school resource officers.
This story is part of 10TV's "Boomtown" initiative — our commitment to covering every angle of central Ohio's rapid growth. This includes highlighting success stories, shining a light on growing pains and seeking solutions to issues in your everyday life.
Because Licking County is growing so fast, Licking Heights just finished Lima Ridge Elementary School. District leaders say with the new space, they know they are going to want more school resource officers.
Lima Ridge Elementary students in Licking Heights School District say they are worried about finding their way around the new building.
Safety and security is not their concern.
But it is top of mind for Superintendent Dr. Kevin Miller.
“The Board of Education gives me two directives. Number one, improve student achievement, and number 2, ensure the safety of our students and not even necessarily in that order,” Miller explained.
When Miller started in the district three years ago, there were 4,800 students. Now, there are 5,400.
“If we don't have a safe environment, then the learning can't happen,” Miller said.
That's why this year the district started working with the Pataskala Police Department and the Licking County Sheriff's Office to make sure there are four school resource officers in the schools.
“It creates a positive relationship between our students and law enforcement. I think all too often we look at law enforcement as a negative because when do you call law enforcement? Because there is a problem. This gives them an opportunity to see that our law enforcement personnel are real people. They care very much about their community,” Miller said.
The Licking County Sheriff's Office had five school resource officers last year. This year, because of growth in the county, they have 10 throughout multiple districts.
“We are booming with the likes of Microsoft, Facebook, Intel, Amazon... the county is just exploding and we are trying to keep up with that growth,” said Licking County Sheriff’s Captain Chris Barbuto.
In addition to Licking Heights, the Licking County Sheriff's Office has school resource officers in Lakewood, Southwest Licking, Northridge, C-Tec, Huber Heights and Liberty Christian.
“When many people think school resource officer, they immediately think response time [and] security. It is much more than that. Our officers are building relationships, they are mentors. They are here for deterrence,” Barbuto said.
The superintendent said as the district grows, they will add more resource officers as they are needed.