ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orange County Public School Board is meeting Tuesday to address the future of campus security within five municipalities after they did not agree to the district’s contracts for providing school resource officers.

Those municipalities include Apopka, Windermere, Winter Park, Winter Garden and Ocoee. 

What You Need To Know

  • Five municipalities are at an impasse with the Orange County School District over School resource officer contracts, which would impact schools in Apopka, Windermere, Winter Park, Winter Garden and Ocoee

  • If agreements are not reached, the district is considering the Guardian Program, which will train individuals to provide campus security in lieu of SROs

  • The district has offered a three-year reimbursement plan with increasing salaries for SROs, starting at $72,000 in 2024-2025 and rising to $75,000 by 2026-2027.

Currently, full-time SROs employed under the district’s agreement with the Apopka Police Department receive a salary of $72,000. However, some municipalities are seeking additional funding, which the district said it cannot provide.

If agreements are not reached, the district will consider launching the Guardian Program, which allows volunteers to serve as campus security personnel in a role similar to SROs.

While School Resource Officers are sworn in by a law enforcement agency, school guardians are not. According to the Florida Association of School Resource Officers, a guardian is an armed school employee who has completed a minimum of 144 hours of training provided by a Florida sheriff's office. 

To qualify for the program, participants must pass a psychological evaluation and a drug test. Guardians are legally permitted to carry a firearm on campus, which was previously prohibited, with the role of providing campus surveillance, monitoring for threats, and assisting law enforcement with threat assessments. 

While a guardian is authorized to take immediate action to stop a threat if one emerges on campus, they have no authority to act in any law enforcement capacity, except to the extent necessary to stop an active assailant.  

Central Florida school districts participating in the Guardian Program include, Brevard, Osceola, Lake, Marion, Sumter and Volusia counties. 

Officials with the Orange County School District said the new SRO contracts for law enforcement agencies will include reimbursement rates of $72,000 for the next school year, increasing to $73,000 in 2025-2026, and $75,000 in 2026-2027.

“We offered a three-year deal to all of the municipalities and the sheriff’s office with an increase of around 20%, so that we can keep SROs in our schools for the next three years,” said District 1 board member Angie Gallo.

If agreements remain stalled, these schools may lack SROs:

  • Apopka: Apopka High, Apopka Memorial Middle, Wolf Lake Middle, Kelly Park (K-8), Dream Lake Elementary, Apopka Elementary, Lakeville Elementary, Rock Springs Elementary, and Wolf Lake Elementary.
  • Ocoee: Ocoee High, Ocoee Middle, Orange Technical College - West, Citrus Elementary, Ocoee Elementary, Spring Lake Elementary, Thornebrooke Elementary, and Westbrooke Elementary.
  • Windermere: Windermere Elementary.
  • Winter Garden: Hospital Homebound/Esteem Academy, Sunridge and Lakeview Middle, Maxey Elementary, Sunridge Elementary, Dillard Street Elementary, and Whispering Oaks Elementary.
  • Winter Park: Winter Park High, Winter Park 9th Grade Center, Orange Technical College – East, Brookshire Elementary, and Lakemont Elementary.

The district has already secured three-year agreements with four other law enforcement agencies: Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Orlando Police Department, Maitland Police Department and Eatonville Police Department.

Tuesday's school board meeting is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.