In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, the Osceola County School District, Kissimmee Police Department and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office have signed off on a joint cooperative effort to put a rotating force of four school resource officers in the county’s elementary schools.

The last part of the plan became official Tuesday, when the Kissimmee City Commission approved KPD’s participation in the plan, which will provide two uniformed officers each from KPD and OCSO, who will rotate among the elementary schools. SROs were removed from elementary schools in 2006 due to budget constraints; middle and high schools still have them.

The school district will pay $39,900 of the salary for the two Kissimmee officers, with the police department covering the remainder. KPD Chief Lee Massie said that two recently retired officers will be used the remainder of this year in order to quickly move them into the positions and get them on campuses. New officers will be added to the department for future school years.

Superintendent Melba Luciano attended Tuesday’s meeting and said the district has already wrote in the pro-rated cost for the rest of this school year and all of the 2013-14 calendar into its budget.

“This partnership between the police and our school is extremely important for our children,” she said.

Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Tom Phelps also attended Tuesday’s meeting and said the measure of added officers is just a sign that the district is being mindful of its security measures, and took the opportunity to enhance it when the chance presented itself.

“This will provide additional peace of mind for our parents,” he said.

Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said the department would use funds in its current budget to fund its portion of their two deputies.

Massie said keeping the district's staff and student safe on school campuses will always be a front-burner issue.

“This plan demonstrates the continuing effort to work collaboratively with our education partners to achieve that goal,” he said.

School District Director of Community Relations Dana Schafer said the shared contributions between the school district and law enforcement agencies made this plan possible.

“The cooperation from law enforcement has been overwhelming,” she said. “They have been outstanding partners.”

Schafer said that what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman stormed the school campus and killed 26 students, teachers and administrators, did play a part in the district doing what it can to enhance the security of its campuses, but it wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction.

“That certainly brought school security to the forefront more than it ever was,” she said. “It was a topic of conversation, but it brought awareness to the forefront.

“Parents just wanted to know if our schools were safe, and if something like (Sandy Hook) could happen at one of our schools.”