- February 5, 2025
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Updated and corrected at 10:30 p.m. Aug. 27.
The Volusia County School System is struggling to fund the school guardian program, so it's turning to local cities for help.
Linda Cuthbert, school board chairwoman and Grek Akin, chief operating officer, approached the council for financial assistance for the county’s school guardian program.
Senate bill 7026, also known as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, became law in March, and it established a multitude of programs to fortify mental health services and security at schools.
The point of contention was Section 26 of the law, which requires each district to have an armed person on every school campus.
Akin said districts have the option to contract local sheriff’s departments for school resource deputies, contract local police departments for school resource officers or hire new employees as school guardians through the School Marshall Program.
The county began the school year with guardians in 35 schools and with 14 candidates in training, and the county also created contracts with the Ormond Beach, South Daytona, Daytona Beach and Deltona police departments.
They also increased their contracts with Volusia County Sheriff’s Office from four to 17, Akin said.
However, the program is still understaffed and underfunded, Cuthbert said.
The solution: Request that municipalities pay for 30%, or $70,000, of the cost.
In Port Orange, that would help fund four school resource officers at local middle and high schools and six school guardians at elementary schools, Akin said.
“What we share is our children, and it is our responsibility to support them financially, emotionally, socially, physically, as well as mentally,” Cuthbert said.
Though City Council members agreed that student safety is paramount, they questioned whether the school board explored other avenues, including converting a campus advisor position to a security position, increasing millage or asking state law enforcement agencies to foot the bill.
Mayor Don Burnette also took issue with the pay, which, at $38,000 annually, was higher than the starting salaries for police officers and matched that of first-year school teachers.
He also said that the city has stretched its resources by providing officers before and after school for traffic control and that officers are at the ready in case of emergencies.
“We’re not waiting for backup,” Burnette said. “The first person there is going in.”
Councilman Chase Tramont said he also is concerned with the amount of freedom a visitor has on school campuses.
Akin said they are working on installing fencing that would allow one entrance into a school and an interior fence that would direct a visitor to the front office. Other security phases include installing cameras that provide live feeds to local law enforcement and buzzers at entrances that would not let in a visitor until they are vetted.
Akin said these security measures are fortified by behavioral training, as well. They’ve spent nearly $2 million on single-point access for schools.
After an hour-long exchange with Cuthbert and Akin, City Council could not vote on the issue because three members had conflicts of interest. Stiltner’s wife and Tramont are employed with the school system, and Bastian said his brother is involved with the school guardian program.
Legally, they could not take a vote, but City Manager Jake Johansson said he would try negotiating with the school system to off-set the costs of school-related costs, such as using school grounds for recreation or shelter, to find money for the guardian program.
A previous version of this article misidentified campus advisors, who are unarmed campus security and information personnel, as school counselors.
