Missouri School Protection Officer

A certified Missouri School Protection Officer (SPO) is a teacher or administrator in your school that carries a firearm concealed and unknown to the community and students but is trained and readily available to react to an imminent threat to your students and/or school. They are mandated by the Missouri State Legislature to complete 112 minimum hours for initial training and 12 hours of annual training to include quarterly firearms qualifications. They are taught the skills and techniques vital to avert a threat or respond as necessary potentially. The duties consist of responding to and handling the following responsibilities while on school property or at a school activity sanctioned by the school:

• Any imminent threat of serious bodily harm or death.
• Any act of arson or tumultuous act that presents an imminent threat of serious bodily harm or death.
• All other issues or problems will be handled by the normal administrator or teacher who would normally de-escalate the situation.

The SPO is a volunteer school staff member willing to put themselves into harm’s way if necessary to mitigate serious threats using the skills and knowledge developed through training in response to the above-listed situations. Any actions requested of the SPO must be within district policy, consistent with statutory authority, and well within the predetermined tolerance level of the community, superintendent, and school board. Once this training is completed by Strategos under the oversight of Missouri State University, the SPO must be approved and certified by the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

WHY Partner w/ Strategos for certified School Protection Specialist Services?

When you engage with Strategos to provide State of Missouri certified SPO training you are partnering with an organization that has been training police officers and police instructors for over 20+ years how to respond to a school threat.

Strategos extensive experience in providing school training, consulting and protection solutions to over 500 school districts currently ensures your district gets a protection solution that increases safety and security without compromising the core mission of educating students in uncertain times.
Reduces fear and anxiety for parents, staff and community stakeholders knowing that a highly trained on-scene armed response capability is able to respond within seconds instead of minutes. LE agencies are currently averaging 25-30% staffing shortage across the country and their ability to staff school SRO positions is very limited or even not possible in many cases. Although local law enforcement have been proven partners for school resource officer staffing for some schools agencies are not able to staff SRO's at schools in many instances and with the demand increasing by our communities to have an armed response capability at elementary schools as well these realities provide an unsustainable challenge for local law enforcement.
These professionals are employees of Strategos and we will provide a certificate of insurance for your district.
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School Protection Officer – By Missouri State Statute 590.205 school teachers or administrators can receive foundational 112 hours of training in a variety of armed protector topics to legally carry a firearm and be certified as a “School Protection Officer”. On top of the 112 hours of training each SPO much complete a minimum of 12 hours re-certification training annually to maintain certification as SPO.

PROS

• Lower economic impact to district budget. Training and possible stipend for those personnel serving in this role
• Increased level of training and return on investment over security guard services
• On-scene and immediate response capability from properly trained personnel that have personal “buy-in” for the school and the mission

CONS

• Community, parent and staff perception of arming teachers or administrators may not be well received
• School’s insurance company will increase premiums in order to cover SPO’s added armed protective roles