Every St. Lucie County school is now protected by at least one deputy, sheriff says

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Every county school is now protected by at least one armed deputy, Sheriff Ken Mascara said at a media briefing Tuesday.

The Sheriff's Office on Monday started posting deputies at elementary campuses, even as lawmakers continue to debate legislation on funding and staffing school security in the wake of a deadly Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Mascara said.

Previously, high schools had two school resource deputies and middle schools had one. Deputies patrolled near elementary campuses in the past, but campuses did not have dedicated security.

"We continue to look for immediate solutions that make our students feel safe, make our parents feel confident, and make our educators and public feel safe about sending their children to school," Mascara said.

"We can all agree immediate solutions are not coming from Washington or Tallahassee," Mascara said.

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Mascara said his agency currently has 38 deputies assigned to protecting schools, up from 27 deputies before the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The Sheriff's Office did not receive extra funding for adding deputies, Mascara said. Rather, deputies were pulled from different divisions and posted in schools to bolster security, he said.

Mascara's new school deputy policy comes on the heels of gun restrictions he requested for selling semi-automatic weapons only to buyers 21 and older.

Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, Gov. Rick Scott as part of a $500 million school safety proposal called for requiring at least one deputy or police officer in every school during all hours students are on campus. He proposed having at least one officer for every 1,000 students.

Posting armed guards in every St. Lucie County school is estimated to cost an extra $1.8 million, Superintendent Wayne Gent said on Feb. 23.

Gent on Tuesday said he appreciated the Sheriff's Office and the increased presence of deputies on campus. He was optimistic lawmakers, grappling over legislation on arming teachers and funding school safety and security, will chip in more money for deputies.

"Hopefully we can get some clear information on what the future holds for us," Gent said Tuesday.

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The district this year received about $750,000 in Safe Schools money from the state to pay for school resource officers and other security needs. More than half of the money — $400,000 — went toward paying the Sheriff's Office for campus deputies

The Sheriff's Office spends about $3.5 million annually to pay campus resource officers, officials said. And that doesn't include operational costs such as vehicles, equipment and uniforms.

Port St. Lucie Police Department spends almost $535,000 staffing school resource officers. Unlike the Sheriff's Office, the agency receives no financial help from the school district, officials said.