Charters grappling with cost of school security

Jackie Grimm, co-director at New Dimensions High School, a top-rated charter school in Kissimmee, found herself in a difficult predicament.

A new state law passed in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland requires all public schools to hire a School Resource Officer (SRO), a sheriff deputy or a trained employee to carry a gun on campus. In turn, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office sent Grimm its proposed contract to supply an SRO. The tab: $90,000 a year. The new law, passed as SB 7026, gave public schools an additional $97.5 million for resource officers. But charter school officials say that because the allocation to fund security is based on student enrollment, smaller charter schools could struggle to pay for a security officer. They could more readily be put in the position of having to choose between a teacher and a security guard.

At the same time, a less costly alternative envisioned under the law – employee training – has been implemented in only 22 of the 67 school districts to date, according to the state Department of Education (DOE). Osceola is not one of them. That leaves smaller charter schools with no affordable options.

Safe Schools Director Damien Kelly told the Florida Board of Education Wednesday that the states’ sheriffs believe not enough funding was allocated under SB 7026 for school security.

For New Dimensions, a medium-size charter with 470 students, the financial math simply doesn’t add up.

“Student safety is paramount on our agenda, just like it is for the whole country,” said Grimm. “It has placed such a burden on us. Do we have to make a decision on whether we have an SRO or a school? Ultimately our charter could be revoked for not being in compliance.”

She said $90,000 is a tremendous financial burden.

“We literally do not have even $3,000 in our bottom line of our budget,” she said.

Furthermore, several districts are not including charters in their contracts with sheriffs’ offices to provide security, according to Lynn Norman-Teck, executive director of the Florida Charter School Alliance.

“Sixty-seven counties are interpreting this law in 67 different ways,” said Ralph Arza, director of governmental relations for the Alliance.

Arza said he is aware of 100 charter schools that may only be partially compliant with the law because of the cost of supplying an officer.

Asked how DOE responds to the issue, spokesperson Audrey Walden wrote: “We encourage them to work with their school districts and/or local law enforcement to meet the requirements spelled out in the law.”

By contrast, Jane Watt, chairwoman of the board for Marco Island Academy, a small charter school in Collier County serving 230 students, said the school would not have been able to afford an SRO if the city of Marco Island had not stepped in to cover the cost.