Pima County schools will receive state funding for armed officers and mental health staff in fiscal year 2027, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne announced Tuesday. The $53 million allocation, approved by the State Board of Education, aims to maintain school safety and mental health services statewide, with continued funding dependent on future legislative approval, officials said.
The $53 million allocation approved by the State Board of Education on May 18, 2026, will fund armed police officers and 523 mental health workers, including counselors and social workers, at Arizona schools during fiscal year 2027, according to Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. The funding targets the first 560 schools statewide that request armed officers under the state’s School Safety Program rules, officials said. Horne emphasized that continuation of these positions beyond FY 2027 will require additional appropriations from state lawmakers.
This latest funding package builds on previous releases of school safety funds.
On December 9, 2024, the State Board approved the release of nearly $48 million in accumulated school safety carryover funds to support armed campus officers and mental health staff statewide. Of that amount, approximately $39.4 million was designated to pay for 198 School Resource Officers or School Safety Officers, while $8.5 million funded 66 new counselor or social worker positions, according to records from the Arizona Department of Education. Schools throughout the state, including those in Pima County, are eligible to apply for these positions through the School Safety Program, department officials confirmed.
In addition to the $53 million and the earlier $48 million, the Arizona Department of Education identified an extra $15 million in carryover funds to expand the School Safety Program further. This funding is intended to add more armed officers and mental health personnel where requested. Horne said state law requires that all eligible requests for law enforcement officers be funded first, with remaining funds allocated to counselors and social workers. The department sought a waiver from the Arizona Department of Administration to bypass the usual six-week public notice for grant applications, aiming to expedite access to these funds. If approved, schools could begin applying for officers starting October 21, with grants awarded in December, enabling officers to be on campus by January of the school year, officials said.
The statewide school safety efforts also include an extended partnership with Off Duty Management, a private security firm contracted through 2026 to provide armed and uniformed School Safety Officers. This agreement covers multiple schools in six Arizona counties, explicitly including Pima County, Apache, Cochise, Pinal, Yavapai, and Maricopa counties, according to a statement from Horne’s office. The program supplements traditional School Resource Officers by providing additional armed security staffing. In Maricopa County alone, 60 school districts or charter schools participate in the Off Duty Management program, illustrating its broad reach as part of the state’s school safety strategy.
Pima County schools are eligible to receive funding for armed officers and mental health staff through these statewide programs. State communications confirm that district and charter schools in Pima County can apply for grants under the School Safety Program, with requests for armed law enforcement officers prioritized before funds are allocated to counselors or social workers. Although individual Pima County districts are not named in public releases, the inclusion of Pima County in the Off Duty Management partnership and the statewide nature of the funding confirm their participation, according to Arizona Department of Education sources.
Horne has characterized the funding as coming from “carryover dollars,” referring to unspent funds from previous years’ school safety allocations. These funds were granted but not fully utilized, allowing for their reallocation to maintain and expand safety and mental health staffing in schools. The governance of these funds operates under the School Safety Program, administered by the Arizona Department of Education, with awards approved by the State Board of Education. State law and administrative procedures, such as public notice requirements for grant applications, govern the release and use of these funds.
Key dates in the funding timeline include the May 18, 2026, approval of the $53 million package for FY 2027, the December 9, 2024, release of nearly $48 million in accumulated funds, and the planned October 21 application start date for the $15 million in additional carryover funds. Horne has stated that the current funding is not permanent and that future legislative approval will be necessary to continue supporting armed officers and mental health workers in Arizona schools beyond the 2027 fiscal year.
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