North Carolina Says $688 Million Needed For School Safety Staffing

North Carolina education officials say they will need almost $700 million more in state funding to adequately improve school safety. This comes on the heels of a student being shot at a school near Charlotte.

Staff at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction estimate it would cost $688 million to hire additional nurses, social workers, counselors and school resource officers to achieve nationally recommended ratios for North Carolina's public schools.

The News and Observer reports DPI wants to reach that goal in the next eight or nine years.

To that end, the department will request just over $71 million dollars for those new positions in next year's budget.

Safety concerns have risen following a national wave of recent school shootings. On Monday, a 16-year-old was fatally shot by a fellow student at a high school in Matthews, a suburb of Charlotte.  

State lawmakers approved an extra $35 million this year for school safety efforts, which is far less than the $130 million Gov. Roy Cooper had requested.