By Kiara Velez, Interning Correspondent for The Apopka Voice
School Resource Officers (SROs) are police personnel attached and assigned to schools as an on-campus securer of safety for students, staff, and faculty.
In addition to their traditional security duties, SROs may also function in a mentoring, educational, and crisis intervention capacity. Relationships with SROs, students, and the school community establish trust and communication that helps prevent crime and encourages safety. However, their presence in some Orange County schools may be in jeopardy if contract negotiations can't be resolved.
The Apopka Police Department, Orange County Public Schools, and four other agencies remain in a standoff over funding for SROs.
An alert sent out to OCPS families on December 17th revealed that the district had not reached a multi-year agreement with the five local law enforcement agencies over school security coverage.
The standoff involves police departments in Apopka, Ocoee, Windermere, Winter Garden, and Winter Park, which have yet to commit to contracts beyond the current school year. Negotiation sessions are set for the end of next week, January 14th-17th, with both the municipalities and OCPS confirmed for attendance.
The OCPS has estimated an additional $2 million will be needed to cover funding demands put up by the five departments through the dispute.
In a recent interview with The Apopka Voice, Melissa Byrd, the OCPS Board Member from District 7 (which includes Apopka), confirmed that OCPS is estimating it will go over its annual budget (of $21 million) from the State of Florida's Safe School Allocation by $17 million, meaning the district has spent more on safety than what was allocated, and now must cover the excess costs itself.
Florida is one of the lowest public-funded systems in the nation, with overall teacher salaries ranking in #50th.
OCPS is severely underfunded as a result, with only 45% of money allocated for transportation currently covering the full cost of buses alone, forcing the district to make continued cuts to education, resources, and school security. Byrd said the shortfalls include its struggles hiring bus drivers, educators unhappy with salaries, and now losing security.
"Every area the State provides us is not being kept up by inflation; we have overspent, but it simply is not enough to cover our costs," she said.
Apopka Police Chief Michael McKinley and other local departments have pushed back on the district's proposed three-year contract, leaving board members like Byrd to stress the need for a sustainable agreement.
On behalf of the other departments, McKinley pointed to the 45% rise in operating costs, while OCPS proposed only a 20% increase in reimbursement.
"We recognize that, on average, our officers receive a 5% merit increase based on their performance evaluations," McKinley said. "Our goal was to ensure this cost was covered, understanding that additional expenses could arise over the course of the three-year agreement.
However, OCPS provided an alternative perspective in a statement:
"The district-proposed SRO reimbursement increase far exceeded the 11% salary increase given to our deserving teachers and support staff over the last two years."
Byrd sympathized with rising costs impacting SROs and the departments but believed change could only be made through collaboration and commitments with local municipalities.
"If we are going to keep SROs in our schools, it will take a commitment from the remaining municipalities to prioritize the SRO funding in their budgets as the other municipalities did. Then we all need to go to the state and ask them to prioritize our children's safety and education in this state."
The agencies stressed that the goal of the negotiations is to ensure fair pay for the officers who protect OCPS schools while also facing their financial challenges, like recruiting staff and getting the needed equipment.
"The reimbursement helps offset some of the basic salary costs for each officer. However, it does not address any of the rising costs of healthcare, benefits, pension, overtime, and equipment," the Apopka Police Department media release states.
The deadlock comes in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which was passedin 2018 in response to the Parkland shooting. The law mandates and requires constant coverage and increased school security measures, including enhanced mental health support and new training for law enforcement in schools.
The tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14th, 2018, sparked a national conversation about school safety, security, and gun control. 17 students and staff members died, making it one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Afterward, there was an urgent push for legislative action to enhance school security and prevent future tragedies. In response to the Parkland shooting, Florida lawmakers passed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act in 2018. This comprehensive legislation aimed to substantially fund and improve safety measures in schools across the state. A key component of the act required the establishment of a School Resource Officer (SRO) in every public school in Florida, ensuring that law enforcement officers are present on campus to help maintain a secure environment. The law emphasized the importance of trained professionals who not only respond to dangerous incidents on campus, but also engage with students and staff to create a culture of safety and trust. SROs work not only on law enforcement responsibilities, but also take on the roles of mentors and educators. To support the implementation of this law, the Florida government allocated additional funding to assist school districts in hiring and training SROs.
Another effort being brought up is the School Guardian Program program training initiative that enables volunteer citizens to provide security at schools. However, both sides of the SRO disagreements seem to agree that the program would not be the best-wanted outcome.
The School Guardian Program would reduce community relationships between the local city Police Departments and the schools.
Stationed SROs also can detain, arrest, and use their resources to break up fights. The stationed guardians, on the other hand, are only permitted to shoot if a shooter is on campus, meaning there are no added security measures to protect students.
OCPS Police Department works primarily in compliance with the state, covering weapon and drug screenings and canine searches. Its intelligence department covers over 1,400 cameras in the county and backfill coverage for other county officers.
"We can't find officers to expand the OCPS Department further either, and we're currently at 11 vacant spots. But then, if we disband OCPS force, the county still has to cover all these positions in some other way because it is required from the state now after Stoneman Douglas," said Byrd.
"(The State of Florida) is a big proponent of the School Guardian Program, so when we ask for more funding, they say, 'you don't need it, you have the school guardian program.' We at OCPS do not believe that is the best way to keep our kids safe. We are trying all we can to keep SROs in our schools," said Byrd.
"We will never be able to pay what they deserve- the vehicles, benefits, salaries, or equipment- we hope the municipalities recognize and share our view of how we see the priority of SROs in schools."
As the negotiation date looms closer, OCPS, Apopka Police Department, and the other municipalities have to agree soon. And despite the standoff, McKinley is optimistic.
"I am confident that both parties will work together to resolve this," he said. "Regardless of the outcome, as emphasized in all our communications, our unwavering priority remains the safety and well-being of our students."