Christian County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Ayers was one of 30 police officers from across the state who graduated from the School Resource Officer Class III training Friday in Richmond.
Ayers has completed the 120 hours of state-mandated training over a three-year timeframe, making them fully certified to work in Kentucky’s school systems.
The Department of Criminal Justice Training course targets the specific needs of officers who are assigned to provide safety and security to the students and staff located inside a school. The SRO courses were revamped after the School Safety and Resilience Act was passed in 2019.
The three levels of training are now offered to active, certified law enforcement serving as school resource officers. All SROs must complete the SRO I in-service course within one year of their start date. SRO II and SRO III training courses are required to be completed the following two years as the annual in-service training.
The SRO training includes topics such as working with special-needs students, mental health awareness, and trauma-informed action. Firearms and tactics refresher training are also included.
