Haywood County commissioners drew a line in the sand. The Haywood County School Board decided not to cross it. In a nutshell, that’s what happened. 

But what was interesting was the spoken and unspoken back and forth between the two elected bodies about taxes and spending in this era of tight budgets and tax-hike phobia.

The Haywood County Board of Education has concluded that the cost of putting officers in elementary schools is not worth raising property taxes.

About 30 cosmetology students stand at their individual workstations cutting, coloring and chatting; they are elbow-to-elbow and back-to-back, cramped as they cater to paying clients in the small salon room at Haywood Community College.

Macon County Schools are facing a $2 million budget shortfall and are hoping the county will come to the rescue.

That leaves county commissioners with a difficult decision: inject substantial amounts of money into the school system or force the school board to make difficult cuts.

At first blush, Officer Nan Tritt looks like any other cop. She wears a badge and a gun, and the heft of a bulletproof vest shows under her uniform.

The Haywood County Board of Commissioners have made it clear that without a property tax increase, funding is unlikely for additional school resource officers and guidance counselors.

Jackson County Schools brokered a sweet deal with county commissioners last year, or so it seemed at the time.

School leaders wanted to build a new gym and auditorium at Smoky Mountain High School in Sylva, but the $11.4 million price tag was more than county commissioners wanted to pay.

If a student at Central Elementary has a particularly tough weekend at home, school counselor Leslie Smith won’t get to hear about it until four days later.

Religion and public schools have never been a black and white matter anywhere in the U.S., but the shades of grey can be even more complicated in the Bible belt.

Law enforcement officials in Haywood County are stepping up to keep a watchful eye on schools as leaders plot their next steps toward increasing safety.

Parents have probably already noticed one simple and cost-free solution to better school security: deputies and police officers have started parking their patrol cars at one of Haywood County’s 16 schools whenever they need to take care of administrative tasks such as filling out reports or doing paperwork.