The debate on whether armed guardians are an adequate substitute for school resource officers (SROs) in Pembroke Pines public schools has magnified as the Pembroke Pines commissioners have voted 4-1 against a proposed contract to appoint armed guardians within its public schools, just as students are preparing to return to campus next week. The commissioners' decision ensures SROs will remain present in elementary schools until December, with a promise that all city schools will have SRO presence on the first day of the school year at least, as reported by Local 10 News.
The city spent $2.1 million on 16 SROs last year but only got partial reimbursement from the school board. Mayor Castillo points to this financial strain as the reason for looking into cheaper solutions. Mike Hernandez, a Pembroke Pines city commissioner, expressed his strong dissent in a reported statement to NBC 6 Miami, "I don’t think a parent in the city of Pembroke Pines is going to be OK with just guardians, I just don’t believe it, they do not have the relationships with administrators, with parents, with students that the SROs have built over more than a decade in some cases."
As an alternative, armed guardians would take over the city's nine public elementary schools and three middle schools, leaving only West Broward and Flanagan high schools with their established SROs. Dr. Howard Hepburn, superintendent of Broward County Public Schools, told NBC 6 Miami that guardians have also received extensive training to understand how to react during emergencies and everyday situations. They have established their presence effectively in other districts utilizing the guardian program over the past five years.
Ahead of the new school year, the cost-sharing arrangement with the school district, which was previously a 50-50 split for SRO expenses, has seen the district's contribution increase from $64,000 to $113,000 per officer. Yet, Pembroke Pines argues the financial strain still exceeds $2 million. Sheriff Gregory Tony acknowledged the limits of the guardians, saying to NBC 6 Miami, “A guardian will never substitute the wealth of knowledge and experience that a law enforcement officer has that comes in with all the other skill sets,” Tony said. “But we’ve given them the skill set to stop these threats if they arrive on our campus.” Commissioner Hernandez will propose setting up an SRO division in the police department to rotate officers at elementary and middle schools, ensuring continued security for young students.
