TAMPA, Fla. - It's a heated debate: What to do with school funding.
The conversation became louder after state lawmakers signed a bill requiring every public school to have an armed officer on campus.
Each district can decide if it will hire more security officers or have armed 'Marshalls,' some of which can be school employees.
But the issue for some school districts like Hillsborough is they don’t have enough money to cover the increased security costs.
In fact, they're drowning in debt.
How is that the case when the district will receive $41 million more from the state?
Here's some of the issues the district is facing:
- Instructional material costs increased $471,307
- Transportation funding only increased by $264,000
- Millions are needed to fix air conditioning at several schools
- Money is being allocated to an additional 3,000 students
The district expects to start the 2018-19 school year with a $16.1 million deficit.
School board member April Griffin suggested paying a fine, instead of complying with the law to have an armed officer at every campus.
“I have seen other districts not abide by some of the standards that the state has set forth," she said.. "Let's just be real about that. Class size amendment being one of them. They have paid penalties as opposed to abided by class size amendment because it was cheaper to do that."
Gov. Rick Scott is optimistic about districts adhering to the increased security protocols.
“My expectation is that everyone is going to comply with the law," he said. "This is about our kids and our grandkids and my expectation is that everyone works hard to keep our schools safe."
Scott added that districts will have enough for increased security due to “record” funding from Tallahassee.
“We've had over $3 billion dollar annual increase in K-12 education since I've been elected," he said. "We have millions more dollars this year going to K-12 education. We have record funding for K-12 education.”
Hillsborough and Pinellas school leaders voted against the cheaper option, which is arming some school employees.
Aside from having many positions to fill in his agency, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says he will meet the July 1 deadline.
“We move the people around, use overtime, hire back people who are recently retired and figure out a way to get it done," he said. "I'm confident we can do that. In the long term, we do need to recite and hire so this is sustained for years to come."
An idea to use money from the Guardian program to help pay for more school resource officers is being considered by legislators, Scott said.
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