| The School Board of Polk County |
| Bylaws & Policies |
| Unless a specific policy has been amended and the date the policy was revised is noted at the bottom of that policy, the bylaws and policies of The School Board of Polk County were adopted on November 12, 2013 and were in effect beginning November 12, 2013. |
8407 - SAFE-SCHOOL OFFICERS
For the protection and safety of students, school personnel, visitors, and property, the District shall partner with local law enforcement agencies to establish or assign one or more safe-school officers at each school in the District, including charter schools.
Further, the Board will collaborate with charter school governing boards located in the District to facilitate access to all safe-school officer options available pursuant to Florida law.
School Resource Officers
The School Board will enter into cooperative agreements with law enforcement agencies for the provision of school resource officers. School resource officers must be certified law enforcement officers as defined in F.S. 943.10(1) and employed by a law enforcement agency as defined in F.S. 943.10(4). School resource officers shall:
| A. | undergo criminal background checks, drug testing, and a psychological evaluation; | |
| B. | abide by Board policies and consult with and coordinate activities through school principals; and | |
| C. | complete mental health crisis intervention training using a curriculum developed by a national organization with expertise in mental health crisis intervention. Such training must be designed to improve school resource officers’ knowledge and skills as first responders to incidents involving students with emotional disturbance or mental illness, including de-escalation skills to ensure student and officer safety. |
With respect to matters relating to employment, school resource officers shall be responsible to their law enforcement agency, subject to agreements between the Board and law enforcement agency. Activities conducted by school resource officers which are part of the regular instructional program of schools shall be under the direction of school principals.
The powers and duties of law enforcement officers shall continue throughout school resource officers' tenure.
School Safety Guardians (The Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program)
The Board may utilizes school guardians pursuant to The Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program. The Superintendent shall be responsible for appointing school guardians.
School guardians do not have the power of arrest or the authority to act in any law enforcement capacity except to the extent necessary to prevent or abate an active assailant incident.
In support of school-sanctioned activities for purposes of F.S. 790.115, the following individuals may serve as a school guardian:
| A. | a District employee or personnel as defined under F.S. 1002.01 who volunteers to serve as a school guardian in addition to his/her official job duties; or | |
| B. | a District employee who is hired for the specific purpose of serving as a school guardian. |
Prior to appointing school guardians, the Superintendent must verify through evidence provided by the Polk County Sheriff that potential school guardians have met all the requirements set forth in F.S. 30.15.
Notification of Incidents Involving Safe-School Officer Discipline and Firearm Discharge
The Superintendent is responsible for notifying the Polk County Sheriff immediately after, but no later than seventy-two (72) hours after, the occurrence of the following:
| A. | a Safe-School Officer is dismissed for misconduct or disciplined; and | |
| B. | a Safe-School Officer discharges his/her firearm in the exercise of his/her duties other than for training purposes. |
F.S. 30.15
F.S. 1006.12
Adopted 9/4/18
Revised 7/30/19
© Neola 2018