CENTRAL FLORIDA — For many parents, sending their kids back to school this year means once again worrying about safety.
In the wake of an increase in school shootings nationwide, many parents are returning their children to schools hoping they will be safer.
“I mean, what is so hard about metal detectors?” said Paige Vick, founder of the group Secure Our Schools, who is also survivor of the Las Vegas shooting last year. “You can’t go to a Magic game or concert without being wanded down.”
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Every school district in Florida must have an officer of some kind at each school, per the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act.
Here is where many Central Florida schools stand when it comes to keeping students safe:
ORANGE COUNTY
Orange County sheriff Jerry Demings said there will be 38 new school resource officers in county schools, which means there will 105 deputies assigned to 116 area schools on a daily basis.
In memo sent to the sheriff over the weekend, Mayor Teresa Jacobs said the county will fill any financial gaps to ensure each school has its own dedicated school resource officer.
Any visitors that show up on an orange county campus are required to sign in and show ID.
There will be video surveillance cameras on campus as well.
The week prior, the county held a training session with more than 100 emergency officials on how to respond to an active shooter. In Orange County, $11.3 million from the district will go to school security.
Read: Orange County Sheriff responds to mayor's memo about SRO funding
SEMINOLE COUNTY
According to a spokesperson: "We have a dedicated school resource deputy in each of our 62 public schools and four charter schools serving 67,000 students and 8,000 employees. Two deputies in our high schools. Fortunately, we have had school resource deputies in place in every public school long before they were mandated by state law. We are prepared for the coming school year."
Read more: Florida prepares to launch app for students to report suspicious behavior
VOLUSIA COUNTY
"When school starts on Aug. 13 in Volusia County, every school will have an armed guardian, deputy or municipal police officer on campus. We’re training 49 school guardians who are School District employees. The training is still ongoing for some of them, but 35 have finished and are ready to start. While the others are finishing, we’re providing deputies to stand in and work special details on a temporary basis at several elementary schools. In addition to those, we have 17 school resource deputies assigned to high schools," according to a spokesperson.
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LAKE COUNTY
According to Lake County Public Schools, there will be 50 resource officers including supervisors, seven trained hired security guardians and nine trained school administrators volunteering as guardians.
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MARION COUNTY
According to a school spokesperson: “We will start with a total of 57 SROs throughout the county: 37 sheriff’s deputies and 20 Ocala police officers. We are still currently training several school guardians with five graduating the program this week.”
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BREVARD COUNTY
"As of today, we have a total of 91 locations (public, private and charter). 59 SROs, 32 off-duty special detail officers and deputies,” according to a spokesperson.
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Some parents like Vick want more changes like bulletproof glass, metal doors, more cameras and fewer access points.
“Just like 9-11, we made major changes. We have to make these changes. It’s the way of our society,” Vick said. “This will happen again.”
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