Last December in a pair of workshops, the Flagler County Commission discussed the county’s commitment to funding school resource deputies in concert with the school district. The county is nit required to make that contribution, but has done so in a 50-50 arrangement for almost a decade. Commissioners are now interested in revisiting that arrangement and possibly ending it. They directed County Administrator Heidi Petito to have discussions with the school district. Petito the year before had raised that very issue to the commission, prompting Sheriff Rick Staly a few weeks later to write then-Commission Chairman Greg Hansen a four-page letter strongly criticizing the proposal, and laying out his position on school resource deputy funding. In light of the commission’s more concerted intent to look into the possibility of ending the arrangement, that letter appears below in full. (See: “Flagler County Plans to End $1.4 Million Contribution for School Deputies, Administrator Tells Superintendent.”
It was brought to my attention that at the December 5th budget workshop for the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners, the County Administrator suggested eliminating Board of County Commissioner funding for the School Resource Deputy program. This funding has been jointly funded by the Flagler County School District, the City of Palm Coast and the Flagler County BOCC for many years. This partnership to keep our students safe is an example of governments working together for the good of our community. This model also has a high level of community support. At the end of the day, it is taxpayers’ money no matter whose pot the money comes from.
Neither my staff nor I were consulted prior to this comment to the BOCC. If we had been I would have voiced my concern that defunding school resources deputies is fundamentally wrong and would risk the safety of students, teachers, and support staff on school campuses and would be paramount to defunding law enforcement on the backs of our children.
I am further surprised that with a county budget of $222 million the only opportunity the County Administrator can suggest to you puts our children’s safety at risk and cuts the Sheriff’s Office budget. While the County Administrator is correct that the County Commission is not required to support school safety by law, a survey conducted by the Florida Sheriff’s Association on SRO funding found that while funding partnerships vary throughout the state on average County BOCC’s support for SRO programs is at 50 percent funding, with some BOCCs funding as much as 100 percent of the SRD’s costs and a very few, actually only two School Districts in Florida, pay 100 percent of the SRO costs.
This same theory of funding not being “statutorily required” argument can be made for the BOCC’s decades-long policy of funding a base level of county-wide law enforcement services. Using this funding strategy, are you going to cut law enforcement services to the City of Palm Coast, Beverly Beach and Marineland, which would dramatically increase taxes on these residents and voters to start their own police department or contract with the Sheriff’s Office? Even if you did this, Florida law requires the Office of Sheriff to be the “conservator of the peace,” which means if a municipality does not have dedicated law enforcement services, the Office of Sheriff is still required to provide services. I realize the County Administrator is looking for revenue, but I believe the BOCC is looking in the wrong places.
After the horrific tragedy of the high school shooting in Parkland in 2017, which left 17 students and staff dead and 17 injured, the Florida Legislature passed new laws in 2018 and 2019 encompassing a number of significant changes and requirements for school safety. What they didn’t change was the Florida Department of Education Safe Schools funding formula, which they should have. The current formula, developed in the 1980s, penalizes school districts that are in low-crime rate counties, such as Flagler County. Now that school safety requirements are the same across every county, the formula should have been changed, too.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has 12 Deputies plus a supervisor assigned to Flagler County’s traditional schools, who provide security, investigate campus incidents, mentoring, and leadership to over 13,000 students at nine public schools, plus one charter school. Each campus has one SRD (School Resource Deputy), with the exception of our two High Schools, which have two SRDs at each campus. These campuses, especially our high schools, are small cities. Flagler County SRDs are equipped with all necessary equipment to include medical kits with tourniquets, bandages, and gloves. They also wear ballistic vests with a rifle plate and have immediate access to an AR-15 to help protect them and others and to immediately stop a threat to our children.
Due to the rise in school violence and threats nationwide and here in Florida over the last two decades, using best practices for a School Resource Deputy program have proven highly effective at thwarting potential violence, immediately addressing threats of harm, and keeping our schools safe so faculty can focus on their mission of educating our children and our youth. Since 2020 there have been 101 school shootings in the United States. This is not the time to reduce SRO funding. It is the time to enhance current levels of school security with the Guardian Program and to fix the Department of Education’s safe schools funding formula.
Locally, we can provide examples of potentially violent incidents which were prevented or immediately and effectively addressed by our School Resource Deputies. They have also successfully prevented and solved a number of crimes. Our SRDs intercept, investigate, and handle all school threats in conjunction with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Homeland Security Section.
The level of professionalism, hard work, innovation, and devotion of our SRDs is a model to be emulated by other counties. Consistent success with the tremendous responsibility for the safety for over 13,000 students and 10 campuses demands an exceptional degree of dedication, reliability, and hard work, as well as strong and positive relationships with staff, students, parents, and teachers. Our SRDs teach computer safety, bullying awareness and safety, bicycle safety, home alone tips, and numerous other topics in our elementary schools.
In middle and high schools, they lead the Flagler Sheriff’s Police Athletics League, the Junior Police Academy, the Flagler Sheriff’s Explorers and teach active assailant education to students and faculty. They provide D.U.I. avoidance education, ensure the success of our S.W.E.A.T. (Sheriff’s Work Ethic and Training) program, have an EOD K9, and participate in the Law and Justice Flagship program at Matanzas High School. The School Resource Deputies regularly participate in events such as Polar Plunge, Safety Expo, Mobile PAL, McGruff mentoring, and many others.
Our mentoring of students is evident through their academic and personal success. Each deputy mentors and encourages our students in school and at school events, coach sports, and serve as leaders in our youth programs. In fact, in 2021, School Resource Deputy Christopher Alecrim was selected by the National Sheriff’s Association as the Law Enforcement Explorer Advisor of the Year. Our SRDs are more than school security and their engagement prevents youth crime and makes our community safer for everyone.
As you may know, there is current discussion to implement a school guardian program in Flagler County by the School District. This should only be utilized to enhance the current Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s SRD program. Guardians are not as well-trained as deputy sheriffs and are not equipped the same as a deputy sheriff. I have made it very clear to the School District and now to the County Commission that I will not support guardians as a substitute for our SRD program. To do otherwise would be to make our schools less safe for our children.
The County Administrator’s sole recommendation to you to deal with a perceived but unlikely county budget deficit, assumes that everything else within the county budget is a higher priority than the safety of our schools and children. Again, this recommendation was not discussed with anyone in my office. Had it been discussed with my team, we would have had the opportunity to explain why this recommendation constitutes poor public policy.
I am confident that your County Administrator can find $700,000 out of your $222 million dollar budget without jeopardizing the safety of our children, teachers, and schools or defunding the Sheriffs Office in other areas. In fact, I can point you to one. In the current budget the BOCC budget anticipated $800,000 being returned to the BOCC from the tax collector in year-end funds, when in fact the Tax Collector’s Office returned over $1.19 million to the general fund. This covers a large part of the budget deficit being discussed.
Risking the safety of our children should never be on the list of funding cuts. Like other counties, our county government provides services and levels of service which are not mandated by Florida law. Local governments regularly recognize priorities and responsibilities in the absence of statutory mandates. I proffer that a school safety partnership is one of them.
If funding is cut for SRDs or SRO funding is retained but funds from other Sheriffs Office operations are reduced to maintain SRD’s, this would be tantamount to defunding law enforcement in our community. I will not accept the concept that “we give the Sheriff the money and what he does with it is up to him,” as was the mantra during the most recent budget process about pay raises to keep our Deputy salaries competitive. The facts are, just like they were on the pay increase issue, the SRDs and Sheriff’s operations are either funded in whole or are not. If you chose to not fund or partially fund either, your actions make the cuts in services, not mine.
Each year, I have worked closely with each governmental body to ensure the success of the SRD program and the safety of our students. However, I cannot change the state allocation formula. But I will gladly assist you and your team and the School District for a legislative change to make state Department of Education’s safe schools funding more equitable across the state.
If the County Commission is truly going down this path of cutting funding from the SRD program, I ask you to take a commission vote sooner than later and have your County Administrator notify the School District, my office and the community advising all parties that the County is reducing funding for school safety. The school district’s new budget year starts July 1, 2023, so time is of the essence.
I have also heard the BOCC wants the City of Palm Coast to pay more for its law enforcement services. Since I have been Sheriff, the City of Palm Coast has paid 100 percent (or up to any contract limits) of new enhanced service-level deputies, but not the basic level of service funded by the county-wide property tax. If the BOCC is truly planning to change its decades long policy and formula of providing a basic level of law enforcement services county-wide, I also ask you to notify the City of Palm Coast of this change.
This policy change would likely reduce law enforcement services in the City of Palm Coast and raise taxes on city residents. I once again recommend the BOCC and the Mayor and City Council work together on a funding formula for the Sheriff’s Office that both governments can agree too so this issue is settled. My staff and I will be glad to participate in any discussion the BOCC schedules with the City of Palm Coast.
