VAN BUREN, Ark. (KFSM) — Each campus of the Van Buren School District is now equipped with a full-time school resource officer (SRO).
The six new officers began their official on-campus duties Tuesday (Feb. 19).
The officers are joining Van Buren's teams of current SRO's who previously had to split their time between several schools.
Officers are also giving students a chance to have positive interactions with law enforcement.
"I'm looking forward to being able to bridge that gap, between what children may perceive law enforcement to be, we are here to help children, I want children to be able to come to me and be able to tell me anything they may not feel comfortable telling other people or their teachers or anything like that they can come to me. So I'm another person here on campus that they can talk to," said Van Buren SRO Megan Slayton.
The school board and city leaders voted last month to add school resource officers to every campus.