By Ethan Faverino |
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne called on state lawmakers and the Governor to prioritize additional funding for the School Safety Program (SSP) in the upcoming state budget, citing a disturbing incident last week at Sunland STEAM Academy in Phoenix where a firearm was discovered on an elementary school campus.
The Roosevelt School District was placed on lockdown on Wednesday, March 4, after a student reported a weapon.
The Phoenix Police Department responded, removed the firearm, and detained two students in connection with the incident. No one was harmed, and the school has since resumed normal operations.
“The discovery of a gun on an elementary school campus is very disturbing and once again shows how important it is that schools have armed officers on campus,” explained Superintendent Horne. “My biggest fear is that a maniac with a gun shoots up a school, killing or wounding children and adults, as has happened in other states.”
Horne emphasized the urgency of strengthening the School Safety Program, which provides grants for School Resource Officers (SROs), School Safety Officers, counselors, social workers, and other personnel to enhance campus security.
“For the upcoming state budget, the legislature and Governor are going to consider added funding for the highly successful School Safety Program so we can add more officers on campuses. They must do so,” Horne added. “The need is clearly there, and we must have safe schools in Arizona.”
Up to now, the program has never denied a grant request, a record Horne hopes to maintain. “Imagine if a school asked for an officer, but the funding was not available, and a maniac got on campus and killed people. Parents would never forgive that,” he said.
The SSP primarily relies on state dollars. According to the Arizona Department of Education, as of the 2025-26 school year, the program currently funds personnel at over 1,077 awarded schools across 14 counties, including:
- 369 School Counselors
- 143 Social Workers
- 247 School Resource Officers
- 3 Juvenile Probation Officers
- 243 School Safety Officer positions
The grant request process for schools without officers remains open through mid-April. To date, districts and charters have requested approximately $103 million for the FY27 School Safety Program, which would fund more than 700 additional positions for officers and counselors, with more requests anticipated.
“The high number of requests for money to pay for officers and counselors speaks volumes to the concerns school leaders have about campus safety,” Horne concluded. “As last week’s incident in Phoenix shows, the need for officers is great. The legislature and Governor must not fail in their efforts to find the resources schools need to protect innocent lives.”
In September 2025, Superintendent Horne submitted a legislative budget request for $180 million to sustain and expand the program. Current state funding, including initial appropriations and carryover, totals just over $128 million, supplemented by $20 million in federal dollars—both set to expire this year.
Approval of the $180 million request would maintain existing levels and provide an additional $32 million to add more officers and training to schools across the state.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
