Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Thorsby Town Council took a step toward improving school safety during its meeting on June 4.

The Council approved an additional $41,000 to be added to the town’s budget in order to staff a full-time school resource officer at Thorsby School.

“We appreciate everything that the town does for us,” Thorsby Principal Corey Clements said. “As a parent, I want to know that our kids are kept safe.”

School Superintendent Tommy Glasscock was on hand and presented the proposal to the Council members.

The money will be added to the town’s budget by the Chilton County Board of Education. It is something that they are in the process of getting approved for each public school in the county.

According to Glasscock, the $41,000 figure was an average amount determined for each school.

The amount is not necessarily the salary of the SRO, but can also be used to pay for additional training.

Glasscock said that the school year consists of 187 days. It will be determined by Thorsby Police Chief Rodney Barnett how the full-time officer is used during the remaining 178 days throughout the year.

“I applaud the Board of Education for being proactive and not reactive,” Barnett said.

The Council also approved to pay $9,276 to Video Industrial Services in Birmingham for cleaning and sliplining a clogged pipe under U.S. 31 and the railroad tracks.

“I don’t see any way around it,” Public Works Director Terry Jackson said.

The project will include sliplining and re-aligning roughly 162 feet of pipe.

In other news from the meeting:

• The Thorsby Fire Department will be kicking off its Movies in the Park on June 8. The movies will be shown at Richard Wood Park on Fridays in June.
• Randolph Estrada and Evan Bryan are attending the Firefighter 160 program, which is considered the first step in maintaining their firefighter standards.
• According to Interim Fire Chief Josh Parker, the department has had an increased interest in applicants and volunteers in the past couple of weeks.
• The Council approved a full page ad in the Thorsby football program for next season at a cost of $120.
• It was approved to pay the bills and transfer the funds.