In November, Collegedale Academy became the first private school in the Chattanooga area to hire a School Resource Officer (SRO), Officer Cordario Eatmon. Officer Eatmon’s hiring is coordinated between the city of Collegedale and CA. For the ten months out of the year school is in session, Eatmon’s salary is paid by CA, while for the two summer months, he works full time for the Collegedale Police Department, thus his position at CA is not funded by taxpayers. His hiring is one of the latest steps CA has taken to improve school safety.
In an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the City of Collegedale (.gov), Collegedale Police Chief Jack Sapp said “We’ve never had a resource officer… since announcing the creation of this position, I’ve received countless phone calls from agencies across the state wanting to know how they could follow our example in creating a school resource officer position for their private schools.”
This process of hiring an SRO was initiated back in April during a CA town hall meeting where parents expressed concern about school security in the wake of mass shootings like those in Uvalde and Nashville, and wanted to explore the possibility of an SRO for the school. After some consultation with the Collegedale Police Department, the CA school board began the process of finding an SRO at the start of the school year, and hired Eatmon in November.
Head of school Brent Baldwin describes Officer Eatmon as “a really friendly guy. He gets along with the kids and the staff and so I’m really excited to have him here.” Baldwin introduced Eatmon to the high school student body during one of the school’s daily chapel programs, and Eatmon has made it a point to build connections with students and staff across the CA system. He is shared between the high school, middle school, and elementary school buildings.
Eatmon, or “Officer C” as the students call him, is very excited about being CA’s SRO and is already working on getting to know students throughout the CA system. He states that, “I’m just happy to be here. I’ve got a lot of names to learn…I really enjoy my job and hanging out with you kids.”
Eatmon is an alumnus of the University of Alabama and is planning on pursuing a master’s degree. Officer Eatmon’s historic hiring was featured on multiple local news platforms including the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and on TV via News Channel 3.
