Alpena school and law enforcement officials want the state to foot the bill for high school and middle school school resource officers.

A June 1 joint letter to legislators from Dave Rabbideau, Superintendent of Alpena Public Schools, Cynthia Muszynski, Alpena County Prosecutor, Erik Smith, Alpena County Sheriff, and Alpena Police Chief Joel Jett urged lawmakers to add school resource officer funding to the state’s budget.

Other communities in the state have requested such funding as well, according to the letter, shared on Wednesday in an APS news release.

The letter called APS similar to the school district in Oxford, where a school resource officer helped save lives during a school shooting that left four students dead and seven people injured in November.

Officers from the Alpena Police Department and the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office currently serve on-campus at Thunder Bay Junior High School and Alpena High School.