- November 26, 2024
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Though the County Council denied to help fund seven more school resource deputies, Volusia County Schools will be bringing them onboard anyway.
On Tuesday, Dec. 12, the Volusia County School Board approved an amendment with the Volusia Sheriff's Office for the additional SRDs via an overall 4-1 vote for the consent agenda. School Board member Ruben Colon voted no on the consent agenda, which included over 50 other items.
The seven SRDs will cost the district $507,136 for fiscal year 2023-2024. The addition of a supervising school resource sergeant will cost $97,614.55, according to the agreement. The SRDs will be added to Creekside Middle School, Deltona Middle School, Galaxy Middle School, Heritage Middle School, Holly Hill School, Silver Sands Middle School and Southwestern Middle School.
"Our principals will be sending out a message to their communities welcoming those officers and making sure that staff is aware of who they are, but also most importantly, our community," VCS Superintendent Carmen Balgobin said.
School Board Chair Jamie Haynes thanked Balgobin, Chief Financial Officer Todd Seis and other district leadership members for their work on the issue. She said the district had set aside funding at the beginning of the school year for 60% of the cost.
According to the district's contract with VSO, the school board is typically responsible for 55% of the total costs for school resource deputies, with VSO bearing the remaining 45%. Per Florida law, VSO can bill the county for services rendered or performed for governmental agencies, which includes the school district.
The district is funding 100% of the cost since the County Council declined to support a funding request of $342,905.11 for the SRDs at its Nov. 7 meeting. The council members said the district's request came too late, as the budget for the current fiscal year had already been set, and that the district should alone fund the SRDs.
"We did make the commitment and it was built into the budget at the beginning of the year," Haynes said.
The new SRDs and supervising sergeant will begin working at the schools in January.
