ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Schools board members will discuss a plan on Tuesday to potentially replace school resource officers on 30 campuses with school guardians.
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A work session on that proposal will begin at 1 p.m. at the district’s central office on West Amelia Street.
Guardians are used in other districts, but they’re controversial. However, using guardians is also a way for school districts to save money.
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“If there’s a fight breaks out, that guardian has to stand there and watch that fight happen no matter how much somebody’s getting hurt because they cannot put their hands on a student,” said Angie Gallo, Orange County Public Schools board member.
Gallo is among the school board members who prefer a police officer patrolling her hallways.
She cites the training and the ability to make arrests as pluses over trained guardians.
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However, Gallo might be forced to accept guardians because of their one big benefit: their cost.
She and her fellow board members will discuss replacing officers with armed guardians at 30 schools in Apopka, Winter Park, Ocoee, Winter Garden, and Windermere.
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This change may happen because the district can’t afford the $18 million cost, and they say the cities want to avoid picking up the tab.
They say the cost mainly stems from salaries that have more than doubled since 2015.
See more in the video above.
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