FORT SMITH, Ark. (KFSM) — The Fort Smith School District created a five-year plan in 2018 called Vision 2023.
A big part of that plan is school safety.
The Fort Smith School District recently created its own police department, and Sebastian County is helping school officers do their job even better.
Just over a year ago, the school district hired safety officers and just this year formed their own police department.
The Fort Smith School District had quite a few police officers but no police cars until recently.
The Fort Smith Police Department and Sebastian County Sheriff's Office donated a few of their older patrol cars to the school district.
Fort Smith Public Schools would have spent around $90,000 to purchase three patrol cars, but instead, they got them for free.
The patrol cars have been lent to the school district for a long term basis. The school will keep up with the cars until they can’t use them anymore.
Director of Security at Fort Smith Schools Bill Hollenbeck says the donation allows them to take a step in the right direction.
“We want to provide a safe and secure learning environment and having a marked unit that police officer in the school...I think that is a great opportunity for the Fort smith schools to be able to show parents and the students how serious we are about their security,” said Hollenbeck.
The Fort Smith School District is excited to see the progression of their school safety program.
The cars will be used at the junior high and elementary campuses.