- April 25, 2024
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The Flagler County School Board on Tuesday approved a contract to provide six school resource officers to middle and high schools, a divergence from a plan the board made in the spring to provide uniformed deputies to elementary schools as well.
Two deputies will be assigned to Flagler Palm Coast High School and one each will be posted at Matanzas High School, Buddy Taylor Middle School and Indian Trails Middle School. The school district will pay about $280,000 for four of the deputies.
Palm Coast is paying for a fifth deputy, and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Officer will pay for a supervisor.
The School Board decided to provide SROs in elementary schools when, after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., a parent privately hired a school deputy for Old Kings Elementary School, where her daughter attended school.
But then, as budget talks began, the board decided to put the matter up to a vote: It proposed a 0.5 mill property tax levy that would, in part, fund school safety initiatives, including placing SROs in elementary school. The board held a special election on June 7, during which 57% of voters declined the tax increase.
