School board eyes hiring of 20 sheriff’s deputies through May 2023
If approved, the pending agreement would provide Palm Beach County schools with 20 sheriff’s deputies and two sergeants as needed through May 2023.
Palm Beach Post | By Giuseppe Sabella | March 21, 2022
Nearly two dozen sheriff’s deputies will soon be available to guard Palm Beach County schools if the school board approves a million-dollar agreement Wednesday.
While the district continues to recruit and fill vacancies within its own police force, the pending agreement with Sheriff Ric Bradshaw would provide 20 deputies and two sergeants at a cost of $100 per hour and $136 per hour, respectively.
Details could change between the school board’s vote and the contract’s execution.
“With the constant flux of retirements, resignations, injuries and new applications, in the interest of ensuring continued full compliance with the law and in the interest of expediency, the proposed contract being brought to the School Board may require further negotiations to accommodate changes prior to final approval,” the agenda for the meeting states.
With the school board’s approval, the superintendent and district staff would have authority to modify and complete the agreement, which would be “substantially in the form” that now exists.
The district also emphasized that Palm Beach County schools already meet the requirements of Florida Statute 1006.12 and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which call for an officer at every school in the district.
Wednesday’s agenda said the addition of sheriff’s deputies would ensure that schools continue either to meet or exceed that requirement — echoing a message shared by the school district last month.
Palm Beach school district police staffing remains focus of public debate
In late February, an unknown number of people who identified themselves as the “rank and file of the Palm Beach County School District Police Department” sent an anonymous letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, pleading for help with understaffing and other operational issues.
“They have attempted to reach full force for the last two years with no success,” the letter states.
The letter advocated for a merger between the public schools’ police force and the sheriff’s office, an idea that’s circulated in the district and community for years.
John Kazanjian, president of the Florida Police Benevolent Association, is a vocal supporter of the idea. And school board member Karen Brill wanted to explore the idea of a takeover by the sheriff about one year ago, before she canceled the conversation at the request of then-Superintendent Donald Fennoy.
Responding to the anonymous letter last month, the school district acknowledged that its police department was down by 68 officers.
But with 248 sworn officers serving 179 district-operated campuses, every site had at least one officer, the statement continued, reaffirming that Palm Beach County schools had no plans to discuss a merger with any law-enforcement agencies.
“The District is actively recruiting officers,” it said in a news release. “In the meantime, we are supplementing with law enforcement from other agencies as we have in the past during shortages.”
What can you expect at Wednesday’s school board meeting?
Bradshaw signed the agreement for 20 deputies on Feb. 28.
As it currently stands, the contract would run through May 26, 2023, if Superintendent Mike Burke and board Chairman Frank Barbieri add their signatures.
The school board would then provide a schedule to the sheriff’s office, including the deputies’ school assignments.
And since the contract is listed under Wednesday’s consent agenda, a list of agreements that are passed with a single vote, it’s possible the agreement will pass with no board discussion.
The meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. at 3300 Forest Hill Blvd. in Palm Springs. Meetings are also broadcast live on Comcast channels 234 and 235, AT&T U-verse channel 99 or online at youtube.com/c/sdpbc/live.
