The Marion County school district will ask Ocala officials to amend a previously approved agreement and reallocate school resource officers from two alternative learning schools, just a month after the district formally ended its multi-decade relationship with those institutions.
The amendment will come before the Ocala City Council during its upcoming meeting on Tuesday, September 3.
The Marion County School Board and the City of Ocala entered into an initial, three-year agreement for school resource officers in June, 2022.
As part of the agreement, Ocala Police Department was tasked to assign one regularly employed police officer to 14 different schools in Ocala, and two officers each to West Port High School and Vanguard High School.
Last month, city council members approved an amendment to the original agreement, which called for an additional officer to be stationed at West Port High School. That amendment, which was approved on August 23, also expanded the duties of the SROs to include “provisions related to requirements and maintenance of certain training certifications,” according to city records.
The second amendment calls for the removal of each resource officer that is assigned to Silver River Mentoring and Instruction and New Leaf.
At the beginning of August, the district ended its formal relationships with those institutions.
The district also removed SRMI and New Leaf from its list of institutions that receive free breakfast and lunch meals.
According to city records, since the approval of the first amendment, the Marion County School Board has elected to end its relationship with SRMI and New Leaf, necessitating the need for a second amendment for “the assignment of a second regularly employed police officer to be placed at” Marion Technical Institute.
Located at 1614 E Fort King Street, all alternative learning students are enrolled at MTI this school year. It is the first year the district has ever managed these students in their own institutions, previously relying on SRMI and New Leaf.
The Ocala City Council regularly meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month at 4 p.m. at Ocala City Hall (110 SE Watula Avenue).