I am unable to attend this morning. I have provided my reasons for opposing this Agenda Item in its entirety in detailed emails previously provided to the Board (which exceed the 1900 character limitations of comments). I agree with the comments that have also been offered by municipal colleagues from throughout the county in opposition to this item. Please vote No.

The school board lacks the experience, expertise, and infrastructure to insource the policy force that looks after the county's students, teachers, and staff.
Potential savings are being optimistiacally forecasted; where as, potential cost increases, and liability are being understated.
The board should concentrate on its main mission, education and relay on corresponding Police Departments for their expertise.
The board has its hands full trying to run schools, adding a police department will only make things worse.

NO, NO, NO - DO NOT do this! Spend the money on metal detectors instead, and give the security people that you do have more authority to put a stop to problems that occur at schools. Use the cameras that you already have to catch those who are causing problems. Put your focus on teaching academics, not turning our schools into a police state, and NOT ramming all this sick, woke gender ideology and other sexual garbage down our children's throats! Pretty much everyone on this school board should be ashamed of themselves for the nonsense and corruption that you have allowed and perpetuated in this district! Most of you should be REMOVED from your post and never be allowed to hold another one! Thank God for the few with some common sense and decency that are trying to protect our children and purge this district of all the corruption that has been allowed to ruin it! NO SPECIAL POLICE FORCE FOR BCPS!!!!!!!!!!!

I want to begin by saying how disappointing it is that this is even being entertained when your teachers and school staff are so underpaid. Ive heard from the Superintendant how successful this program is in Palm Beach County. The difference is that they started their police force in 1972 and it grew with the school district. You all decided to wait 50 years later for this school district to become the second largest district in the state before attempting to establish a Law Enforcement agency. Not only is this a huge cost for taxpayers and one that realistically cannot be achieved, you are also putting the students of Broward County in danger. Municipalities are having difficulty keeping officers and this School Board wants to hire 400 sworn officers. Where do you think you are going to find these officers? Have you even considered the quality of the applicants you are going to get if the salary is not competitive? There are so many issues that need dealing with other than this. If it isnt broke, dont fix it.

I am a 20-year veteran of law enforcement and a mother. I would like to state that the plan to replace SROs with a school board police department provides a false sense of security to the children and families of Broward. Officers utilize a multiagency approach when it comes to emergency communications. As seen in the MSD shooting, even with a multiagency approach via dispatch, setbacks and improvements can be made. Voting to create and implement a police department which would be managed by School Board staff would disregard everything that agencies have learned since MSD and even more recently the Uvalde shooting. This kind of decision-making will set communications back more than a decade, to when agencies began planning for an integrated radio system to make response times more efficient. Current SROs have experience with de-escalation, tactical training, child abuse, and building rapport with students. I do not put much faith in a newly created agency to maintain the current training standard set by each SRO’s police department. How can the school board make decisions and oversee tactical training when they have never been in a situation that requires tactics? The answer is, that they cannot. How does the Broward school board feel that clear bookbags and portable metal detection devices are necessary but then say removing experienced and trained police personnel from schools would be the safest decision for our children? As a mother, I am disappointed that the school board felt it okay to disregard the input of Mayors, officers, parents, students, and faculty. The experience and statistical data that matter the most. These children are not just a number and their safety should not be overlooked as a way to save money and cut corners. The school board should focus on education and allow the professionals in Law Enforcement to focus on enforcement of the law.

I don’t support this initiative to create a school police force. I have concerns as to the reason this is being brought forward and what issues currently exist in SIU that would warrant this change. I agree with City Officials comments opposing this decision, specifically that the addition of an entirely new layer of government is not a cost-effective or safer solution.
Additionally, I have serious concerns about the transparency of a school police force and the ability to manage this police force. Finally, this change has not been looped through our advisory and community groups for input.

I hope you all vote no.

It is to my dismay that after the Parkland shooting you would want to dismantle what was built for security, both physically and mentally. I'm afraid I have to disagree with your mindset. It is discerning to hear this from individuals who call themselves, "advocates of children." An advocate is to represent, the best interest, of the individual. This is not in the best interest of any, especially our children.
Let's remember we have a responsibility to not only educate but to have a safe environment for the students to feel they can learn. As Maslow's theory states (paraphrased), to go on to the next level, we must be able to feel comfortable with the level we are at first...
As a former public school educator, it is these decisions that led me to leave the public school. Politics has NO place in education! Educators want to educate without having to look around and feel unsafe, unprotected, misrepresented, and expendable. I employ you to remember, we are humans! Treat us as such. Do NOT say you care and then backstab us with these insane ideas.
Thank you.

This board cannot and should not make such a decision as big as policing without stakeholder input. I ask the board to make a motion to workshop this item and allow for stakeholder input and independent objective professional input in a public forum. The stakeholders have a right to know the cost, processes and repercussions attributed to the creation of a district police force.

Please, please, do not create your own police force. We need to focus on student achievement. We have wonderful SROs at our schools currently.

Given the day and age that our children are growing up in, it is imperative for the Broward Schools to continue to have SROs from law enforcement to continue to keep the kids safe, partner with school staff to teach them right and wrong and to be positive role models. Officer Yeung at Nob Hill Elementary is a great example on what an SRO should be- a dedicated officer that truly cares about the children walking the halls, an active and positive member of the community she serves (toy drives, food drives, community helper role model) and most importantly, guards that school with her own life. Children need those types of authority figures in their lives. Also, given the amount of violence in the community and country, not having these TRAINED officials could jeopardize their lives in the event of another incident like MSD.
Let's focus on bringing up other systems that are broken (kids test scores) of the state of FL and not spend time on areas that are not in need of repair.
Thank you for your time and i strongly hope you reconsider this dismantling.

As a parent of three children who attend schools in Broward, I am opposed to this change. The municipalities serving our schools as SRO's and SRD's are qualified, highly trained individuals who do so much more than just "police" our schools. They are mentors, counselors, role models and so much more. The direct communication these SRO's have with their entire agency withoout having to patch radio channels, go through a dispatcher or 911 call taker reduce response times in emergencies because they are in direct communication with their fellow officers, supervisors etc. I am concerned with the replacements of SRO's at schools that have more than one officers assigned due to size. Some Schools within Broward County have 1 officer per 1,000 students, so they have multiple officers on campus every single day. Will Broward Schools honor that? Will they be replacing every officer or only placing one per campus to save money. What is the benefit package going to look like for the officers you want to attract? Municipalities are having trouble hiring and retaining quality officers, what is Broward Schools going to offer that is more attractive? Again, I don't think this an effective change, I think it will make our schools unsafe. I am opposed to this change, and I urge the Board Members to vote NO.

It is imperative we protect our children to the best of our abilities. They have only us to protect them. The SRO program currently in place is comprehensive and effective. Any proposed changes must provide superior outcomes. This requires public discussion and active involvement by law enforcement. Please do not proceed with dismantling the SRO program until a better alternative is designed and can be realistically implemented! Respectfully Catherine Crochetiere

My name is Brett Robert and I am a resident of Broward County for 16 years with a 14-year old daughter attending Ramblewood Middle School.

It seems to me that the passage of this new School Policing Plan is being done so quickly because they people behind the measure know that what they are trying to push through is really not good for the school district and will be opposed if the time is taken to follow normal procedures. The question becomes: what are their real motivations behind pushing such a bad plan?

For the School Board of Broward County to have its own school police force, it will need to recruit and train officers and maintain discipline. That will prove difficult and expensive to do properly. The Broward County Sheriff's Office already does these things for the officers that we currently use. Why throw that expertise and cost savings away? How can we assure that we will have qualified school police officers? Will they be as good as the county sheriff's deputies? I doubt that.

This plan will be expensive and take a lot of work to implement and maintain. What we have now works as good as a school guard can work, and the effectiveness of police in schools (consuming school resources) is questionable. The new plan will not improve anything. It will only make our current situation worse and burn up precious resources.

Why is this plan being promoted in the first place and why is it being rushed through the process in this manner?

Please do not adopt this School Policing Plan. The school board does not need its own band of thugs.

We have schools that are crumbling and others that have other urgently pressing issues that need to be resolved. Not to mention, our teachers need to be paid a salary much higher than they are making right now and this board seems to be dead set against Broward County teachers making a living wage. We do not have the funds right now to hire, train, and PAY our own police officers!! Please do not insult parents and try to say that this will be less expensive than what we currently have. When you add in benefits, it most certainly will not. Most importantly... you are rushing this process and you did not give adequate opportunity for the stakeholders to give OUR input. What's the hurry that you need to call a special meeting right after everyone returns from break? Stop with the political tactics of releasing information when people are too busy to pay attention. This chaos is purposeful and we are aware of who is behind this. This agenda item is a hard NO for anyone who cares about teachers and children.

Dear School Board members,

I am writing to let you know that I oppose having a school police force. If this happens, I will pull my child out of the Broward County schools. I am already dissatisfied with the quality of education being provided, the deteriorating schools, the lack of consideration for teachers, the appointments of two School board members who have no previous experience working in schools and the list goes on. Passing this will be a clear message to parents, srudents and teachers that educating our children is not the priority. Furthermore, I am also concerned about the racial profiling by officers. I urge you to reject this proposal.

BAD IDEA AT THIS TIME!!!

Of course this agenda is following a rare free week, when all stakeholders could be available midday. This has strategically been scheduled on a day when teachers & students are not available at 11am. The SBBC has been negligent to make needed infrastructure repairs from the voters’ bond from almost a DECADE ago. SBBC are not competent enough successfully provide compensation for the teachers, the fundamental employees of a school. They continue to fail their employees while, Miami & Palm Beach have fought for teachers’ to have a livable wage. Yet, SBBC want the public to trust them to develop an entire force of trained officers to protect tens of thousands of children. Our teachers deserve better. Our children definitely deserve better!

Why are we reinventing the wheel and finding money for things that are already in place and NOT focusing on giving teachers, schools, and Broward public school families the respect they deserve? And why are stakeholders not being included?

Our BSO SROs are doing a great job—they have established relationships with school students, staff, admin, and faculty. I don’t understand why an SBBC police force is considered a priority.

We need to focus on the classrooms and school buildings: giving teachers a living wage (your proposed “raise” does nothing to help with inflation, rising gas/grocery/insurance costs—it’s actually quite the slap in the face for teachers from whom you ask more and more every year), purchasing programs that will HELP students improve skills (vocabulary.com, for example—not renewing is another mistake made by the board), give teachers and students working technology and printers back in classrooms, repair moldy and unhealthy buildings and classrooms. THIS is where the money should be spent. NOT on a police force to replace a system that is not broken.

Please consider allocating the funds that would be spent on a police force to where communities really need the money spent.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,
Tracee Evans

Dear School Board of Broward County,
I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed school policing plan. There has been far too little public conversation about this plan and this endeavor is too significant to accelerate in this manner. Seriously! No one is aware of this plan and we cannot afford to alienate the public anymore. If you feel that our current SROs lack training in de-escalation techniques, then mandate that training. Please focus on the task at hand: addressing declining enrollment, increasing student achievement and recruiting/retaining school staff.

My name is Dr. Trudy Jermanovich.
I’m usually not cynical, but since I watch most every School Board Meeting or Workshop, I’m wondering why an item which has not gone through the proper vetting by the advisory process is being rushed before the Board. The implementation of a School Board Police Force took on new importance because it coincided with teacher’s questioning why this Board was not giving them the same raises as neighboring counties. If lots of money is needed for a Police Force, then there’s no money for raises.
Since the highly paid Internal Special Investigative Unit made a major mistake in how they handled a minor verbal confrontation between two parents, it’s almost comical that the Board would think that now is the time to expand into having their own police force. If their present system can’t handle a minor confrontation between adults without controversy, you should NOT be expanding that system further into the schools.
I also believe that this police force idea is another way to cause chaos on the Board. My opinion is that this plan has been pushed by Board Members Foganholi and Alston. I believe that they were also at the heart of the “clear backpack” fiasco. The Police Force was discussed at a March meeting with a different Superintendent. It appears that this Special School Board Meeting was rushed to force this plan into our schools without properly surveying the stake holders first. Superintendent Licata has been forced to rush items. Recently, when a Sergeant’s Job Description was being modified, it was revealed that only teachers received possible funding for further studies through a TDIF. Alston pushed to have a plan to offer EVERY employee money if they wished to further their education. This plan would leave another hole in the budget, without first discussing it with the stakeholders. Stop this chaos now!