Fruitland Park commissioners unanimously agreed Thursday night to provide a school resource officer at the city’s elementary school.
Under the plan, the Lake County School District will pay the city $40,000 to put an officer at Fruitland Park Elementary School this year. The city agreed to pick up the difference through an already planned increase of 1.75 officers to the police department. With the additional money from the school district, that will allow Chief Michael Fewless to fill two positions, one of which will be the school resource officer.
Commissioner Rick Ranize, who retired from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, said the city stands to gain a great deal from providing the officer at the elementary school. He said he spoke with Mount Dora Police Chief John O’Grady, who is providing officers in that city’s schools, and was told the plus to the city is huge.
“He can’t put a dollar value on it,” Ranize said.
The commission’s decision to offset the cost of the school resource officer follows a request from Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay. She spoke to commissioners at their July 26 meeting and explained that the district is scrambling to satisfy requirements of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which calls for a school-safe officer at every Florida school.
Kornegay said school districts were given three options for providing security officers in schools this year: using certified school resource officers, forming their own police force or using “guardians” who have received 132 hours of training from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and undergone several background screenings. Kornegay made it quite clear that she is in favor of using certified officers, even though they cost more than guardians.
“I don’t think when we are talking about our children that cheaper is better,” she said at the July 26 commission meeting. “It is worth the investment to provide a certified officer that your chief has vetted and trained and is part of this community, because these are your kids. They’re our kids.”
Nevertheless, Commissioner Ray Lewis spoke in favor of using guardians at both meetings.
“Lake County has a long history of funding at a minimal basis, not at a top tier,” he said. “I don’t know that they would have picked the most expensive option if the onus (to provide the money) was on their back.”
Had that been the case, Lewis said, he suspects the districts would have followed several other counties who chose the less expensive route of hiring guardians.
“That would have been a little easier to swallow,” Lewis said, adding that the only way he would support the city’s police department providing the officer was if it didn’t increase next year’s budget.
Ranize, who served nine years as a training coordinator at the sheriff’s office, said he was vehemently opposed to using guardians instead of trained officers.
“No disrespect, I applaud their efforts,” he said. “It takes 132 hours, 80 hours of firearms training and 12 hours of legal (instruction). You talk about a liability. And they only have authority in an active-shooter situation.”
Mayor Chris Cheshire agreed, adding that he wouldn’t be happy as a parent if The Villages Charter Schools decided to use guardians instead of Sumter County sheriff’s deputies to protect his children.
“I’d be down there right now screaming my head off,” he said. “I would not want a guardian at my children’s school. And if that was the case, I’d pull them out and I’d put them in private school.”
Commissioners are hoping they won’t face this issue again, as Lake County will be asking voters in the Aug. 28 primary election to approve a special tax to help pay for school resource officers and school-hardening measures to increase safety. If approved, the tax would generate about $16 million a year in new dollars to help fund the safety upgrades.
“This is a band-aid approach for one year,” Ranize said of the need for Fruitland Park to help fund the school resource officer. “It’s a small price to pay.”
On June 12, a split Lake County School Board voted to allow armed administrators in schools. School Board Chairman Stephanie Luke was joined by board members Marc Dodd and Bill Mathias in supporting the measure, while Sandy Gamble and Kristi Burns voted against it.
Six days later, the Lady Lake Commission opted not to contribute financial support for placing a safety officer in The Villages Elementary of Lady Lake. The principal at the school, David Bordenkircher, volunteered to be an administrator armed through the Guardian program and will be carrying a gun when classes resume Aug. 13.
And on July 23, Leesburg city commissioners approved an agreement with the Lake County School Board to provide school resource officers at Beverly Shores and Leesburg elementary schools. The school district, in turn, agreed to pay the city $80,000.
