Pembroke Pines parents applaud city's decision to keep resource officers in all schools
PEMBROKE PINES - Many parents in Pembroke Pines have applauded the city's decision to keep school resource officers at all schools. The city had weighed getting rid of them at elementary schools because the school district would not fully reimburse the cost.
City commissioners said they always wanted to have school resources officers, because they value them. But they wanted the school board to pay — like they do in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
On Wednesday evening, parents and teachers showed up at City Hall to weigh in on a decision that could have taken the officers away.
"When I'm teaching and I see a car parked on 196the Street right by the fence, right by my students, I can radio my SRO and he will get in his squad car and go check out the situation," physical education teacher Fran Blocker told the commission.
For decades, Pembroke Pines, like other cities across the county, provided school resources officers to the school district for free. But in 2008, the recession hit and the cost became too much for cities to bear on their own.
Over the last 16 years, the school district started to slowly reimburse the cities more and more.
Pembroke Pines Mayor Angelo Castillo said the district wanted them to sign a three-year contract for the SRO reimbursements. He said the cost of the officers for three years would have been around $7 million, but the district was only willing to pay $5 million, leaving a hefty $2 million hole to fill.
That's when the school district put forward an alternative before the commission: instead of SROs in elementary schools, the school district would cover the costs of armed guardians.
"As a retired firefighter and paramedic, I've had instances to deal with school situations and I've always found that it's very important to have well-trained law enforcement officers in the school system," said Steve Elliot.
Parents at Wednesday's meeting agreed that there is no replacement for actual officers. So did the commission, which struck down the contract and voted instead to keep the status quo.
The SROs will remain in all schools, although it comes at an even greater cost. With no contract, there will be no reimbursement. The city has agreed to fully cover until December, when they will once again try to meet with the school district and come up with a better funding plan.
The school district said they recently increased their reimbursement to the city to $113,000 for each officer. It said they believed that was a fair amount to pay per officer. Broward Schools Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn has previously said armed guardians, which are significantly cheaper, are just like sworn officers.