An extra set of eyes and ears has joined Manatee County’s elementary schools.
The district’s newly hired community service officers reported for duty on Wednesday.
However, the guards are not armed like they were supposed to be.
Due to legal concerns raised this week, the district announced the CSOs will be deployed on an unarmed basis until further notice.
“After consulting with outside legal counsel and our staff attorney, it is our opinion that there is no prohibition by statute that prevents armed security guards being placed within public schools,” said Superintendent Rick Mills. “However, the statute upon which the district relies is in a gray area. Therefore, to err on the side of caution, the district will deploy the CSOs unarmed and seek an opinion from the Attorney General to interpret the statute on which the school district relies.”
Mills said despite not being armed, the CSOs will still be able to provide an increased sense of security at the schools.
Parents said armed or not, they’re happy about to see the security officers at the schools.
“I don’t think he needs it,” said Jennifer Hartzell, a parent. “As long as he’s here to ensure that nobody comes on the school property that’s not supposed to be here, he’s helping.”
The district said they decided to add the extra security officers after parents expressed a need for it.
In November 2013, the district’s Citizen’s Budget Advisory Committee held a series of community forums where residents were asked to fill out surveys to determine top priorities for the district.
The district reports that more than 940 surveys were received and safety and security was identified as one of the top priorities.
As a result, safety and security became one of seven strategic priorities specifically detailed in the strategic plan.
But, when district leaders looked at placing school resource officers from local law enforcement agencies in 33 elementary schools, the cost was listed at more than $3.4 million.
That caused the district to look at the armed security option, which would cost the district just over $1 million.
After reviewing several companies for the job, Sarasota Security Patrol, Inc., was selected as the winning firm.
The district reports the security officers are trained through the Department of Agriculture, have a Class D License with 40 hours of training, and also have a Class G License with 28 hours of training with firearms.
They were also required to take additional training, including a 16-hour course in safety and security for schools.
Oneco Elementary School Principal Dr. Tina Stancil, said she’s happy to have the new security officer at her school.
She said her campus is open and the office is in the center of the school.
She said she thinks having the officer there to patrol the grounds and report any suspicious activity will be helpful.
“Having a security officer is more about an additional support system in case we had a need,” said Stancil.
Also happy about the addition of the officers are parents of Oneco students.
“I think it’s great for security purposes,” said Janine Smith. “It makes me feel at ease dropping my daughter off in the morning.”
Charles Jackson, who also has children at Oneco, said he thinks the extra security is great.
“It makes me feel comfortable that all the kids are safe not just my own,” said Jackson.
The Community Security Officers are now in 31 of the 33 elementary schools.
Anna Maria and Palmetto Elementary Schools are the only schools without the new officers because they both have a School Resource Officer provided through an agreement with their local law enforcement agencies.
The security service is costing the district around $1 million.
This week, schools are introducing their individual CSOs to their students.
Parents and the community can find out more about the CSOs and their duties and responsibilities by reading an informational brochure that is available at the elementary schools or by reading the brochure online at manateeschools.net, in a gold banner that reads “Information About Community Security Officers.”