BELLE — The Maries County R-2 Board of Education on March 28 agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding for a school resource officer (SRO) with both the Maries County Sheriff’s Department and the city of Belle during a closed session meeting.

Superintendent Dr. Lenice Basham said on Friday that the board decided to go with both entities so each campus will have an officer on duty at all times.

“I feel like we need an SRO on both campuses,” Basham said. “Because they both submitted the bid, the board decided to take both bids for Bland and Belle for full-time officers.”

The SRO bids came just a day after a violent school shooting at The Convanent School in Nashville, Tenn., where three children and three adults were killed.

“Both contracts are reasonable,” Basham said. ‘I think it is a smart decision and I am very grateful for the board putting that emphasis on student safety.”

The Maries County R-2 School District has prioritized safety, especially over the past year when they applied for and received a $400,000 grant to increase security measures. However, they haven’t had an SRO in the district since the beginning of this school year due to staffing constraints at the sheriff’s office until former marshal Joe Turnbough began work on Feb. 14 as a part-time employee for the department.

However, Turnbough will not be serving as the full-time SRO according to the contract or Maries County Chief Deputy Scott John.

“Joe was always a temp and Tanner (Hinson) wanted to take over the position,

John said. “Tanner offered and they accepted him into the position.”

John said he sent Basham a message on Monday, informing her of the change before the school board contract was approved.

“Joe had a dental appointment and had requested the rest of the week off to campaign,” John explained. “So we put Tanner in the school.”

The contracts have not yet been released to the public.

“They are still with our attorneys,” Basham said. “It may be next month at least. The board will have to sign an MOU and it will be at least the April meeting before we release more details.”

In the meantime, John said Turnbough has been promoted to road deputy, taking Hinson’s position as he learns the ropes at the school before being sent to SRO school in July.

Turnbough said on Friday when asked about his change in position, that Hinson is really interested in the schools.

“I hope he will be good for it,” Turnbough said. “Because if I get elected, I need to patrol in the Belle area.”

Turnbough said if he wins his bid for the marshal seat, he would need to be available to the public and wouldn’t be able to stay in the schools, so trading places with Hinson was the perfect solution.

A March 30 post from Belle Mayor Daryl White, Jr., on his private Facebook page about the SRO staff change indicated Turnbough had been immediately released by the school.

“Good afternoon! Today I’ve been overwhelmed with phone calls concerned with Joe Turnbough’s immediate release as SRO for the school. Our office has confirmed they have replaced him with another officer for safety. Belle Police Department is completely committed to school safety and will do anything needed. Thank you for your concern and we will continue to do our part.”

The city’s phone system was down for updates between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on March 30; White posted around 1:45 and by 2:15 the post had been removed.

Basham said no one personally contacted her with concerns.

“We didn’t ask to have Joe taken out, we were told Tanner was coming in,” Basham said. “We had not made the assumption that Joe was being removed from the position.”

John added that if he had students in the school district, the mayor’s post would have caused concern.

Turnbough said he wasn’t “immediately released.”

“I haven’t been terminated or anything,” he clarified. “I just took a week off to campaign.”

While the sheriff’s office will continue to maintain Hinson on the Maries R-2 campuses through the remainder of the school year, Basham said the city doesn’t have an officer for the school yet.

“The Belle contract won’t go into effect until August when school starts in the fall,” Basham said. “They have asked the school district to be a part of the interview process to pick that person.”

White indicated that he and city Treasurer Charro Reasor have gone over the Belle Police Department’s finances to determine how to fit in another officer. He acknowledged it will cost the city more money.

“I won’t have $40,000 stand between the city providing an officer and school safety,” White said. “It will cost the city some, but it is worth it.”