Manatee County officials debate how to pay for mandated school resource officers next year
Manatee County School Board members and county commissioners held a joint meeting Wednesday afternoon, with the first agenda item sparking a discussion on who would front the cost for additional school resource officers in the 2018-19 school year.
Superintendent Diana Greene said it would cost the school district and the county about $3.5 million each to ensure that every elementary and middle school has an SRO, and that every high school has two. The county has historically shared the cost of SROs with the district, and Wednesday's estimate was based on an assumption that the 50-50 split would continue.
The projection could fluctuate after negotiations or a change in law enforcement salaries, and the cost of equipment such as cars and radios was not included in the estimate.
School board Chairman Scott Hopes recognized the financial burden, but he said it would pay for the bare minimum needed to protect district schools.
"I encourage you to walk around one of our high school campuses; 80, 90 acres with buildings spread around, and then you think about what happened in Parkland, and you then look through that lens and even figure out how two resource officers are going to cover it," he said, addressing those in the meeting.
The county expects to lose millions from its budget if the Homestead Exemption Increase Amendment passes in November. That, coupled with a growing population in Manatee County, caused anxiety among commissioners.
Commissioner Charles Smith said some of the county's existing projects still need more funding.. Regular operations, he said, need to be funded with a budget that could diminish.
He said the school district may need to take on more than its usual 50 percent split of the SRO costs.
"A negotiation needs to take place," Smith said. "We have a way of finding money if we need something, but I need to hear the school district say, 'Well, we maybe can do better.' "
The county's finances are "crashing and burning," said Commissioner Carol Whitmore, who asked Greene if the school district could find a way to pay for the full cost of hiring SROs in the 2018-19 school year.
"I just can't find a way to fund it unless we raise taxes," she said.
Wednesday's discussion followed the Parkland shooting in February, and Gov. Rick Scott's decision to sign the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act on March 9. Among other things, it mandates that school districts provide security at all of their campuses.
As a result of the legislation, the Manatee school district received about $2.6 million for school safety in the upcoming school year.
About $390,000 will go to charter schools, and the district will still need to spend about $1.4 million to meet its 50 percent obligation and pay for the SROs.
Manatee County sheriff's deputies and officers with the Bradenton, Palmetto and Holmes Beach police departments will comprise the group of SROs, with the greatest numbers and costs coming from the sheriff's department.
Wednesday's estimate was about $5.6 million for 23 deputies and five supervisors.
Sheriff Rick Wells said his department is understaffed, and that he is already recruiting in anticipation for the increased workload.
"The day of the (Parkland shooting), the superintendent was on the phone with me," he said. "And then, in a matter of a couple days., we're meeting to discuss what we are going to do to protect our students in Manatee County."
This story was originally published April 11, 2018 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Manatee County officials debate how to pay for mandated school resource officers next year."