FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – The Flagler County School Board on Tuesday night unanimously approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the county Sheriff’s Office to provide security on all public school campuses for the 2018-19 school year, officials said.
This is a major component of SB 7026, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which was passed by state lawmakers earlier this year after the deadly school shooting in Parkland.
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The memorandum goes into effect July 1 and ends June 30, 2019.
Under the agreement, Flagler County Public Schools will pay half the cost for nine deputies, a sergeant and a unit commander. The total cost will be $696,004, which does not include overtime, according to a news release.
Also included in the memorandum is the full funding of nine school crossing guards at a cost of $92,938. Members of the Palm Coast City Council have agreed to continue funding an additional school resource deputy, which will allow the district to have a deputy at each of the county's five elementary schools and two middle schools.
Two school resource deputies will be stationed at each of the two high schools in Flagler County. The additional school resource deputy will fill in wherever that person is needed, officials said.
“Sheriff Rick Staly is an important partner in keeping our campuses safe,” Superintendent James Tager said after the vote. “We all understand the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act is a good first step. Yet, at the same time, we also understand there is still much work to be done to ensure the spirit of that act is fully funded. I am confident that by working together with Sheriff Staly, as well as all our law enforcement partners, we can make that happen.”