Saying that off-duty officers can get better pay in other places, the Hall County School Board voted Monday night to boost pay rates for the officers who work security jobs at ball games and other after-hours school events.
The officers had been paid $25 per hour, but Gordon Higgins, the Director of Community Relations and Athletics for the Hall County School District, said administrators at the various county schools made the appeal for the higher pay rate.
"What the officers were telling the principals and athletic directors was 'I love your school and I love working with you and your children and the students here, but I've been offered $40 or $50 an hour to direct traffic at this church at the same time on the same evening that you want me to come to your school,'" Higgins said.
Higgins said it's important to have the security at after-hours events, especially at sporting events where the competition can get heated - even in the stands.
"Their mere presence tends to calm people down," Higgins said. "When they have somebody there they know is going to hold them accountable for their behavior...an officer there in a uniform tends to be a calming presence."
While the board members did not elevate the pay rate to the $40 or $50 level, they did agree to bump the pay rate to $30 per hour, which brings the rate in line with what the Gainesville City School System pays for after-hours officers.
The board did discuss the possibility that the $30 rate might not be enough to entice officers to take the Hall County off-duty jobs should a better-paying offer come along. To that end, board members said they might have to bump the pay scale higher later in the year.
School District Finance Office Jonathan Boykin said the district has budgeted $48,680 for after-hours security for the new fiscal year; last year's budget was $24,340.
The school district uses officers from the Hall County Sheriff's Office for after-hours security, since the county has a partnership with HCSO for school resource officers, according to Higgins.
