Who should decide cops-in-schools question?

At least one Charleston County School Board member believes the city of North Charleston over-stepped its authority when it decided to post police in public elementary schools.

School Board member Elizabeth Moffly believes the question should be decided by the school district, not by municipalities. It’s an issue the board is expected to consider when it next meets in January.

North Charleston plans to have officers posted in public elementary schools throughout the city when classes resume next week, in a response to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

“This is not their jurisdiction it is ours.” Moffly told fellow board members, in emails she copied to The Post and Courier.

Board Vice Chaiman Craig Ascue said the issue “should undoubtedly be a topic of discussion at our first meeting in January” but did not take a position. By the time the board holds its next voting meeting Jan. 14, North Charleston will have had police in the elementary schools for nearly two weeks.

The city’s decision, urged by Mayor Keith Summey and approved by City Council on Thursday, will require the city to hire 21 police officers and cover the $1.5 million annual cost of their pay and benefits. The officers will be posted in Charleston and Dorchester 2 elementary schools throughout the city.

Read more in upcoming editions of The Post and Courier.