HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-2022-165 Urging School Board to Increase Funding for School Resource Officers RESOLUTION NO.2022-165
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH,
FLORIDA,URGING THE SCHOOL BOARD OF BROWARD COUNTY,FLORIDA
TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS FOR EVERY
SCHOOL WITHIN BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA; PROVIDING FOR
DISTRIBUTION; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; FURTHER, PROVIDING FOR
AN EFFECTIVE DA l'F;.
WHEREAS,pursuant to Section 1006.07,Florida Statutes,district school boards are responsible for
the health,safety and welfare of their students and"shall formulate and prescribe policies and procedures,in
consultation with the appropriate public safety agencies for emergency drill land for actual emergencies
including,but not limited to fires,natural disasters,active assailant and hostage situations,and bomb threats,
for all students and faculty at all public schools of the district comprised of grades K-12";and
WHEREAS, the Florida legislature amended Section 1006.12, Florida Statutes, following the
Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting to state: "[f]or the protection and safety of school personnel,
property, students, and visitors, each district school board and school district superintendent shall partner
with law enforcement agencies or security agencies to establish or assign one or more safe-school officers at
each school facility within the district,including charter schools";and
WHEREAS,pursuant to Section 1006.12(1),Florida Statutes,school districts may satisfy their
requirement to establish or assign safe-school officers by implementing a school resource officer
program through a cooperative agreement with law enforcement agencies;and
WHEREAS,pursuant to Section 1006.12(1)(b),Florida Statutes, "[s]chool resource officers
shall abide by district school board policies and shall consult with and coordinate activities through
the school principal but shall be responsible to the law enforcement agency in all matters relating to
employment, subject to agreements between a district school board and a law enforcement agency.
Activities conducted by the school resource officer which are part of the regular instructional program
of the school shall be under the direction of the school principal"; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 1006.13(1), Florida Statutes, "[d]istrict school boards
shall promote a safe and supportive learning environment in schools by protecting students and
staff from conduct that poses a threat to school safety"; and
WHEREAS, Section 1011.62(13), Florida Statutes, created a safe schools allocation to
provide funding to assist school districts in their compliance with ss. 1006.07- 1006.12, with
priority given to safe-school officers pursuant to Section 1006.12 and each school district shall
receive a minimum safe schools allocation in an amount provided in the General Appropriations
Act; and
WHEREAS, The School Board of Broward County ("Broward County School Board") is
responsible for providing safe-school officers in all 334 Broward County schools, including charter
schools,which is a critical component to ensuring and maintaining the safety of children and educational
staff at schools;and
WHEREAS, the Broward County School Board does not have sufficient human resources
to provide the necessary safe-school officers as required Section 1006.12, Florida Statutes at each
school facility within the district; and
WHEREAS,the Broward County School Board has entered into agreements with multiple law
enforcement agencies throughout the County to establish a School Resource Officer("SRO")program
and assign one or more safe-school officers at each school facility within the district,including charter
schools; and
WHEREAS, the annual cost per SRO includes the salary, benefits, vehicle, and other
related ancillary expenses that the police officer incurs when assigned as an SRO at a Broward
County school; and
WHEREAS, through the agreements with the local municipalities, the Broward County
School Board is only funding a fraction of the SROs, and each municipality's taxpayers fund the
balance of the cost of the SROs which amounts to double taxation to taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, for fiscal year 2021/2022, the salary and benefit cost for the City of Dania
Beach's School Resource Officer program was $538,578, which represents the City's pro-rated
cost for the 10-month period in which SROs are assigned exclusively to Broward County Schools,
not including costs for vehicles, computers, uniforms, training, etc.; and
WHEREAS, for fiscal year 2021/2022, the Broward County School Board funded $244,800
of the Dania Beach School Resource Officer program cost which when subtracted from the full
program cost requires the taxpayers within the City of Dania Beach to fund approximately 54.55
percent of the salaries and benefits in addition to the vehicles,computers,uniforms,training,etc.from
the general fund. This burden on the taxpayers amounts to an unsustainable subsidy; and
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WHEREAS, the cost of each safe-school officer should be the responsibility of the Broward
County School Board and the inadequate funding of the safe-school officers/SRO program places an
additional unfair burden on local municipalities equating to an unfunded mandate;and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 1006.12, Florida Statutes, the Broward County School
Board is responsible for the safe-school officers program and should increase funding per officer,
including salary and benefits, utilizing the average cost among the municipalities in Broward
County; and
WHEREAS,in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting,
the Broward League of Cities formed a School and Community Public Safety Task Force which
discussed the disparate funding of SROs across Broward County, difficulties with schools whose
students do not come from solely one municipality,the inadequacy of the Safe School Allocation to
cover current costs,and the municipalities continuing to bear too great of a financial burden for SROs
The final report recommended that:
"School district must increase the amount it participates in the cost of SRO's. Actual
costs are well above the current participation amount." "There must be a permanent,
stable and dedicated funding stream to ensure uniform SRO program in all BCPS and
Charter Schools."
WHEREAS,millions of dollars'worth of funding from a 2018 referendum approving a.5
mill property tax for the Broward County School Board are set to expire. This .5 mill property tax
currently funds school security personnel among other things; and
WHEREAS, in August 2022, the Broward County School Board sponsored a ballot item
to increase the funding from .5 mill to 1 mill property tax; and
WHEREAS, the Broward County School Board anticipates receiving an additional
$227,000,000 per year in revenue as a result of the passage of the referendum; and
WHEREAS,due to significant increases in property values in Broward County,the Broward
County School Board will receive more revenue from property taxes than previously estimated;and
WHEREAS,the Broward County School Board has approved a plan to spend 75 percent of
the referendum funds on increasing staff pay and has further committed to spending up to 17 percent of
those funds on school safety,including hiring 500 safety personnel;and
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neral fund. This burden on the taxpayers amounts to an unsustainable subsidy; and
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WHEREAS,the Broward County School Board's commitment to spend up to 17 percent
of the referendum funds on school safety and safety personnel should include a commitment to
increase funding toward the SRO programs provided by the municipalities; and
WHEREAS, in 2022, the Florida legislature passed legislation imposing additional
responsibilities and burdens on local police departments. The new law mandates emergency drills for
active assailant and hostage situations, bomb threats and natural disasters and requires all law
enforcement officers, including SROs, who are responsible for responding to schools during
emergencies such as school shootings to be physically present on campus and directly involved in the
emergency drills.The law further requires all law enforcement officers,including SROs,who are assigned
to public schools to complete mental health crisis intervention training using a specified curriculum.
However, funding for this additional training is not provided and thus results in an unfunded mandate for
municipalities that provide SROs to the Broward County School Board;and
WHEREAS,the Broward County School Board will be reviewing its budget for the 2022/2023
fiscal year and will be allocating its ad valorem taxes as well as the additional funding it receives via special
levy and the safe school allocation provided in Florida's General Appropriations Act to fund safe-school
officers/SROs;and
WHEREAS,in the Broward County School Board's budget for the 2022/2023 fiscal year,the City
of Dania Beach strongly urges the Broward County School Board to increase funding for the safe-school
officers program/SRO program, on a per officer basis, to more accurately reflect the cost of the officers
assigned to Broward County schools;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA:
Section 1. That the foregoing "WHEREAS" clauses are ratified and confirmed as
being true and correct, and they are made a specific part of and incorporated into this Resolution
by this reference.
Section 2. That the City of Dania Beach, Florida urges The School Board of Broward
County, Florida to increase funding for School Resource Officers for all public schools located
within Broward County, Florida.
Section 3. That the City Clerk is directed to distribute a copy of this Resolution to The
School Board of Broward County, Florida, the governing bodies of all Broward County
municipalities, and the Broward League of Cities.
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Section 4. That all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict with this Resolution
are repealed to the extent of such conflict.
Section 5. That this Resolution shall be in full force and take effect immediately upon
its passage and adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED on October 25, 2022.
ATTEST: XA 4.4
t4144 -r/ ( •
•
THOMAS SCHNEIDER, CMC TAMARA JAMES
CITY CLERK . : MAYOR
4.8l/SHO1
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND CORRECTNESS:
E E . BOU SIS
C T ATTORNEY
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