Dunnellon High School to get another MCSO deputy

File photo: Dunnellon players run onto the field before their game against West Port at Dunnellon High School in Dunnellon, Fla. on Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2020.

Dunnellon High School will soon have two School Resource Officers stationed on campus after the school district amended its contract with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to provide another deputy.

Across all Marion County Public Schools, MCSO will now have 41 deputies who work as SROs to monitor and protect schools. The district also has contracts with the Ocala Police Department and the Belleview Police Department to station law enforcement at every school in the district.

Until now, Dunnellon High School has only had one SRO on campus. The school district now pays MCSO $3,075,000 to reimburse the department for the salaries of the deputies. Each deputy earns a salary of $75,000 for the 2024-25 school year.

The original SRO agreement with MCSO was approved on June 28, 2022. The contract was last amended on August 27, 2024. Both are in effect until June 30, 2025.

“(MCPS) will not begin paying for this additional SRO before the sheriff’s office has assigned a qualified and trained SRO to the school location,” according to the school board agenda.

The district’s contract with MCSO previously cost $3 million per year for the 40 SROs.

In August, the district also amended its contract with OPD to station two SROs at Marion Technical Institute, two SROs at Vanguard High School and three SROs at West Port High School. Previously, MTI had one, Vanguard High had one and West Port High had two.

The amendment cost the district an additional $253,099, with the yearly salary of each SRO being $84,366. In total, the district will pay OPD $1,687,330 for the 2024-25 school year for 20 officers.

MCPS is required to arrange for law enforcement to be present at all public schools, in accordance with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act.

The law requires that every public school in the state of Florida either have an SRO employed by a law enforcement agency, a School Safety Officers employed by the district, or a School Guardian employed by the school who is armed and authorized to act in active assailant incidents at a school, according to the law.