Middleberg Public School has pulled the plug on its school resource deputy program, and the deputy who had been stationed on campus has already been reassigned, leaving the small Grady County district without a sworn law enforcement officer at school. Grady County Sheriff Gary Boggess said the decision raises safety concerns and could slow emergency response. District officials counter that armed private security will remain on duty during school hours and extracurricular events while they redirect state grant money into other security measures.
Boggess told reporters the school resource officer post had been partially funded through a state security grant and warned that without a deputy on site, “response time may be 15 to 20 minutes,” a delay he called dangerous in an active-shooter situation. He added that once the reassignment is complete, Middleberg will be the only district in Grady County without one of his deputies on campus. As reported by KOCO Oklahoma City, the sheriff said having deputies at schools had reduced incident reports and sped up emergency responses.
Sheriff's Office Ran SROs Across The County
The Grady County Sheriff’s Office publicly lists school resource deputies assigned to nearly every district and previously identified “Deputy Crane - Middleberg” among its SROs, underscoring that Middleberg had been part of a larger countywide safety plan. Boggess has promoted placing deputies directly on campuses as a key piece of his strategy, saying the role blends patrol, rapid response and relationship-building with students. According to the Grady County Sheriff's Office, SRO duties also include monitoring security systems and working with dispatch during potential emergencies.
District: Armed Security Will Remain
Middleberg Superintendent Joel Read issued a statement saying the district remains committed to safety and will “continue to have armed security on campus whenever school is in session and at all extracurricular activities” for the 2026–27 school year. District officials told reporters they plan to shift the state security grant into other safety efforts rather than keep paying for an SRO contract. Boggess responded that private security personnel do not have the same authority as sworn deputies, a difference he argued could matter in a crisis. As reported by KOCO Oklahoma City, Read’s statement stressed that student safety remains the district’s top priority.
How State Funding Fits In
State lawmakers created a three-year School Resource Officer pilot program and a School Security Revolving Fund in 2023, giving districts a mix of cash and choices. Under the law, districts can use the money to hire sworn officers who meet specific training requirements or to pay for physical security upgrades. The bill text and official summaries on the Oklahoma Legislature’s website outline the program and what participating officers must complete for training, according to the Oklahoma Legislature.
For smaller districts such as Middleberg, that setup has translated into a trade-off between keeping deputies on campus and investing in other security strategies. For now, the county will reassign its Middleberg deputy and the district will lean on contracted security while leaders decide how to use the grant dollars. Both the sheriff and school officials say they want students protected, even as they publicly disagree on what protection should look like in practice.
