Commissioners to discuss additional funding for Orange County school resource officers
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - The debate over school funding in Orange County is coming to a head, as the sheriff's office asks for more money for school resource officers.
This all started when a new school safety law was passed after the Parkland shooting, requiring many districts to scramble to find the funds and resources to have a school resource officer at every school.
There was a last-minute item added to the agenda where commissioners will meet on Tuesday to figure out how to fund an additional 75 school resource officers in Orange County.
Since May, memos have gone back and forth over the need to hire more school resource officers. Sheriff's Demings has asked Orange County to approve the costs of hiring and training of 75 new school resource officers. The memo says that the $11.2 million cost would be split among the school board, county, and state. If the funding is approved, the sheriff said it would take several months to deploy the new deputies.
The issue has turned political, as Mayor Teresa Jacobs is running for School Board Chair and Sheriff Demings is running for Orange County Mayor.
As a temporary fix, Sheriff Demings has reassigned deputies to serve on school campuses, even paying out overtime in some cases.
Orange County Public Schools has released a statement, thanking Sheriff Demings and Mayor Jacobs for their continued support for the safety of their students anf staff. Thanks to the partnership with the Sheriff and the commitment of the school board to pay for full-time coverage with overtime hours, they say that they have been able to double the amount of school resource officers on their elementary school campuses.
However, Orange County Public Schools did acknowledge that some elementary schools in the area have less than full-time coverage on alternating schedules.
The full statement from Orange County Public Schools is below.
"We would like to thank Sheriff Demings and Mayor Jacobs for their continued support for the safety of our students and staff. The district has been able to double the amount of School Resource Officers' (SRO) coverage on our elementary school campuses thanks to the partnership with the Sheriff and the commitment of the school board to pay for full-time coverage with overtime hours. We acknowledge that currently some elementary schools have less than full-time coverage on alternating schedules. We appreciate the County Commission’s dedication to school safety by approving funding to gradually replace the overtime hours with full-time officers in the remaining schools. The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority and as such our SRO schedules and assignments remain confidential and exempt."
The meeting on Tuesday continues the conversation on how to fund these 75 additional school resource officers.