ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- The St. Johns County School District is taking safety seriously. On Tuesday, the key players met to determine what they can be doing better.
One change coming out of that meeting is that come summer, district leaders plan to walk in and around every school to check out the gates, fences and doors. It's just one way they plan to step up efforts to make the district as safe as possible.
Rob Selah's daughter is only 2. But he is already looking ahead to the day she goes off to school. It's a chilling reality to face after the recent tragedy that unfolded inside Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Selah and his wife recently moved to St. Augustine. A good school system is something they prioritized. He's happy to learn the district continues to meet regularly to go over safety procedures and determine what they can do better.
"Safety is always first. I think that's what parents want. And that's not lost on this board so keeping them safe when they come to us is always number one," said Superintendent Dr. Joe Joyner.
He tells Action News a top priority here is having a law enforcement officer inside every school, every day. Right now, the district can't afford to do that full time.
"I think it's important every school has a school resource officer I actually grew up in Florida and every school I attended from elementary on, I know we always had a resource officer and as a student it was comforting to know that there was a police officer there," Selah said.
Selah says lack of funding isn't a good enough excuse not to do it. He says they should allocate funds from somewhere else to make it happen. Joyner is hoping the state will step up so that can become a reality.
"Hopefully the awareness for the need for resources will not be lost on our lawmakers in Tallahassee and that they'll provide us some additional resources," he said.
Gov. Rick Scott just announced he plans to ask the legislature to increase public school funding by $1.2 billion next year. Each district can use it as it pleases. But one-third would fund pay raises for teachers.
The school district also plans on upgrading its radio system in March to be able to better communicate with law enforcement. The district is also exploring ways to upgrade lockdown drills.
