Volusia County Council rejects funding of extra school resource deputies requested by district

DELAND, Fla. - The Volusia County Council has voted against a proposal by Volusia County Schools to help pay for extra school resource officers in the area’s middle schools.

The Volusia County school district came to the council asking for more than $300,000 to partner with the Sheriff’s office. The agreement would provide seven school resource deputies in each of the seven middle schools without them. 

The main themes in the stances taken against the proposal were the timing and the need. According to comments made during the meeting, the timing of the proposal was odd because the yearly budgets for all three parties involved have already been submitted.

In addition to that, there was a line of questioning focused on the district’s undesignated fund. Multiple councilors expressed the opinion the district has the money to cover the cost of the additional deputies. All seven councilors voted to deny the proposal. 

This doesn’t mean the district can’t add the deputies in the schools, it just means they will have to pay for it through different means. "It's as simple as it sounds. All they need to do is write the check for 300 some odd thousand, and they'll have seven deputies inside of the schools," Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.

The district released a statement in response to the vote. "We are disappointed in the council’s decision not to support this request that was made in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Office," a district spokesperson said. "The discussion that took place this morning regarding the district’s budget and reserves was not relevant to the financial considerations of the interlocal agreement."

Neither the superintendent nor the Chief Financial Officer were in attendance at the meeting. Sheriff Chitwood said he believes that left a bad impression. "Nobody from the school board was here… I was a little taken aback by that," he said. "Why are you not here fighting for this initiative?"

Council member Troy Kent expressed concerns about the district’s perceived lack of preparedness.

"It’s borderline disrespectful, in my opinion, to come hat in hand asking for money and not having your ducks in a row, with basic statistics ready to go," Councilor Troy Kent said moments before the vote.

At the meeting, officials said they would continue with their operations as they are for the time being if denied. 

Council members who weighed in agreed the safety of the students and staff is the number one priority, however, they agreed it’s the responsibility of the district to cover those provisions.

This is a developing story, stay with FOX 35 News for the latest. The entirety of the district's statement is included below.

"Volusia County Schools officials attended the Nov. 7, 2023, Volusia County Council meeting to support the Volusia Sheriff’s Office in requesting additional funding for seven additional school resource deputies for seven middle schools that do not currently have assigned law enforcement officers on campus. 

As such, we are disappointed in the council’s decision not to support this request that was made in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Office. 

The School Board’s chief financial officer, school security specialist, and administration from all parties worked together leading up to the meeting to discuss the financial requests and ensure that the School Board was meeting the requirements of our interlocal agreement with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office. By prior contract, the School Resource Deputy Agreement states that VCS’s responsibility is 55% and VSO’s responsibility is 45% in paying for school resource deputies on our campuses. 

This contract provides cooperative means to deter crime, provide safety and security to students, faculty, and parents on or about school premises. 

The discussion that took place this morning regarding the district’s budget and reserves was not relevant to the financial considerations of the interlocal agreement. 

VCS previously had school resource deputies in these seven schools, which were removed during the pandemic and replaced with school guardians due to staffing issues. 

VSO has supported this initiative and assured VCS that they had the personnel to support these safety measures in our schools if the funding was approved. 

The safety and security of our students and staff is, and always will be, the top priority of Volusia County Schools, the Volusia County School Board, Superintendent Dr. Balgobin, and all Volusia County Schools staff members."