Clay County School Board Creating Its Own Police Force
Instead of hiring the county sheriff department, the Clay County School Board plans to hire its own police force.
The decision came after a panel commission released last month on school safety in Florida.
Clay County School District Superintendent Addison Davis said that he and his staff came up with the idea of having its own school police department which would protect students and school personnel such as teachers and administrators.
But Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels was surprised the local school board didn’t ask him for any input. He says the school board never consulted him for advice.
School officials said that having “their own” police force will be better for the district. Davis said the decision was also based on costs.
In August, Clay County citizens voted in favor of raising their property taxes for school security.
Medical Marijuana: Florida To Be Number 1 by 2021
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried says that Florida’s medical marijuana industry is projected to have a $1.6 billion economic impact and create more jobs than other sectors of the economy–including manufacturing–by 2020. She also insisted Florida has the potential to become the biggest medical marijuana market in the nation by 2021.
Fried came out of nowhere to be elected agriculture commissioner last year thanks, in part, to her support of medical marijuana, making her the only Democrat in Florida to hold statewide office. Back in 2016, more than 70 percent Floridians backed Amendment 2, expanding medical marijuana in the Sunshine State.
FEA Gives Some Support To Governor’s Teacher Pay Proposal
Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed $422 million for “compensation increases” for teachers and another $10 million for programs to recruit new teachers. This includes allowing tuition forgiveness for 1,700 new teachers a year provided they would commit to working in Florida’s public schools for five years.
Many local school districts applauded the governor’s idea and the Florida Education Association (FEA) is also backing the proposal to some extent. The FEA has often criticized Republicans in Tallahassee in recent years for not doing enough on paying teachers and funding classrooms.
Despite that, last week, FEA insisted DeSantis’ proposal is a step in the right direction on addressing the state’s teacher shortage problem.
Contact Ed at Ed.Dean@FloridaDaily.com.
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