ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County Public Schools may lose school resource officers at some campuses beginning in August 2025.
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It all stems from the District’s dispute with five municipalities and their law enforcement agencies.
According to the school district, Apopka, Winter Park, Ocoee, Winter Garden and Windermere all told OCPS they need more money from the District to cover the costs of the officers.
“We don’t have the money,” said OCPS District 1 Board Member Angie Gallo.
Overall, it could impact 30 schools.
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Orange County Superintendent Maria Vazquez said she does not want to lose these school resource officers. But at this point, the District has no choice but to consider replacing officers with guardians. Guardians’ sole purpose is to monitor the school and keep intruders out.
Guardians can be anyone who completes roughly 140 hours of the Guardians Program provided by the Sheriff’s Office. They also must pass a psychological exam and drug test. They can carry a firearm on school property if they complete the program.
However, guardians are not sworn officers.
Gallo is one of the many Orange County leaders who have said they would strongly prefer having SROs on campus instead of guardians.
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“If there’s a fight breaks out, that guardian has to stand there and watch that fight happen. No matter how much somebody is being hurt because they cannot put their hands on a student,” Gallo said. “Law enforcement, they can intervene, and they do have arrest authority.”
Superintendent Maria Vazquez wrote a letter to the Apopka mayor, saying since February this year, the District has been working to negotiate with the five cities to have sworn school resource officers in schools for the next three years.
However, the District only recently learned that the five cities wanted one-year agreements. Vazquez said the District is now drafting a proposal for one-year agreements, but the terms will be different.
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The letter says Apopka wanted the District to pay up, covering 60 percent of the SRO costs.
The rebuff came after the District proposed paying the agencies $72,000 for the “reimbursement rate” of the officers this upcoming school year, a 20 percent increase from this school year and a 116 percent increase from the 2015-2016 school year, when the reimbursement rate was set at a little more than $33,000.
Vazquez wrote, “OCPS cannot meet Chief McKinley’s request without taking money out of our classrooms.”
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Gallo says she hopes the five municipalities will follow the lead of Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Orlando Police Department, Eatonville Police Department and Maitland Police Department. Those agencies agreed to provide school resource officers for schools under their jurisdiction.
“I’m sure that they’re all feeling the same crunch that the five municipalities are having. But those Sheriffs and Chiefs decided that the safety of our students was their number one priority, and they signed the deal. So I’m hoping that the five municipalities will agree that the safety of our students is of utmost importance,” Gallo said.
“I’m sure that they’re all feeling the same crunch that the five municipalities are having. But those Sheriffs and Chiefs decided that the safety of our students was their number one priority, and they signed the deal. So I’m hoping that the five municipalities will agree that the safety of our students is of utmost importance.”
— OCPS District 1 Board Member Angie Gallo
The School Board is set to discuss the possibility of adding guardians to school campuses next Tuesday.
Gallo said OCPS is on a time-crunch to make a decision. The board has until roughly January 30th, she said.
Vazquez said the District and the Sheriff’s Office will need six months to recruit and train candidates for the Guardian Program.
We reached out to the five law enforcement agencies where the municipalities have pushed back against the District’s agreement. We have not heard back.
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