VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — One day after being denied money for new deputies at its middle schools, Volusia County Schools leaders are speaking out. The district asked for seven additional deputies to fill middle schools that don’t already have one.
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The County Council unanimously voted no because the county’s budget had been approved since September and because members claimed the schools had a bigger budget than the county.
School leaders said that should have never been part of the discussion because they were only asking to add on to an agreement already in place.
Read: Volusia County Council members vote no to adding more deputies to middle schools
“We were not there to speak about money, because that is not our place. Our place is to speak about our need and why we want to expand our existing agreement that we have had with the sheriffs office for many, many years,” said Patricia Corr, Interim Chief Operating Officer for Volusia Schools.
The interlocal agreement Corr is referring to states the Sheriff’s Office will provide seven deputies to Volusia Schools. The district will pick up 55% of the cost and the county the other 45%. The contract goes from June 2023 to July 2024. The district wanted to add on seven more deputies, specifically to its middle schools, citing a recent rise in bad behavior.
Read: Volusia County leaders request additional school resource deputies at 7 middle schools
“This request was not exclusively made by Volusia County Schools. This was in joint effort with the Volusia Sheriffs Office,” said Danielle Johnson, Director of Community Information for Volusia Schools.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood said he has more than enough staff to fill schools if the funding becomes available.
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In the meantime, the district said it will get by without the additional deputies but does hope city police departments that aren’t already staffing schools, step up.
“We certainly will approach Port Orange for the two middle schools in Port Orange and hope we can work something out. We understand they have a staffing shortage right now,” said Corr.
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