VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – School district leaders from Volusia County went before the county council on Tuesday morning asking for funding to add more school resource deputies.
The district asked for the council to agree to add seven deputies for several middle schools, but the council unanimously denied the request due to the budget.
“I don’t want them to go back to the status quo. The school board needs to fund this,” said Council Chair Jeff Brower.
The school district asked for resource deputies and one sergeant to seven middle schools that currently only have school guardians. The district said the schools had to call for law enforcement a combined 257 times in the first month and a half of school this year.
“Just simply alone having a school resource deputy on our campuses is first and foremost a deterrent,” district interim Chief Operations Officer Patty Corr said.
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Corr and Deputy Superintendent Rachel Hazel presented the district’s case to the council on Tuesday.
Currently, the district’s contract and agreement with the sheriff’s office states the district pays 55%, and the county pays 45%.
Corr told the council the district had the funding for its end of the deal to hire the additional deputies, but the county council members felt it was too late of an ask for their budget since it was approved two months ago.
“We both have budgets, we both just went through a budget season, we both have reserves. I look at this and see this is your jurisdiction,” said Brower.
Several council members also did not think it would be fair to provide even more deputies to schools in cities where the police departments refuse to hire school resource officers, while other cities do help their schools.
That’s something Sheriff Mike Chitwood agreed with, but he also said that his team was ready to hire deputies for the job to provide extra safety.
“I just was disappointed, and I have a great deal of respect for the superintendent. Why she, her staff, and the school board wasn’t here leading the charge — I think that also sent a message to the council,” he said.
The school district sent a statement after the meeting that said:
Volusia County Schools officials attended the Nov. 7, 2023, Volusia County Council meeting to support the Volusia Sheriff’s Office in requesting additional funding for seven additional school resource deputies for seven middle schools that do not currently have assigned law enforcement officers on campus.
As such, we are disappointed in the council’s decision not to support this request that was made in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Office.
The School Board’s chief financial officer, school security specialist, and administration from all parties worked together leading up to the meeting to discuss the financial requests and ensure that the School Board was meeting the requirements of our interlocal agreement with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office. By prior contract, the School Resource Deputy Agreement states that VCS’s responsibility is 55% and VSO’s responsibility is 45% in paying for school resource deputies on our campuses.
This contract provides cooperative means to deter crime, provide safety and security to students, faculty, and parents on or about school premises.
The discussion that took place this morning regarding the district’s budget and reserves was not relevant to the financial considerations of the interlocal agreement.
VCS previously had school resource deputies in these seven schools, which were removed during the pandemic and replaced with school guardians due to staffing issues.
VSO has supported this initiative and assured VCS that they had the personnel to support these safety measures in our schools if the funding was approved.
The safety and security of our students and staff is, and always will be, the top priority of Volusia County Schools, the Volusia County School Board, Superintendent Dr. Balgobin, and all Volusia County Schools staff members.
Volusia County Schools
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