Elementary schools to receive security officers

After a month of back-and-forth debates on how to provide security to elementary school students, the Manatee County School District made a decision.

Sept. 9, in a split vote — with the women, Barbara Harvey, Karen Carpenter and Julie Aranibar in favor, and the men, Bob Gause and Dave Miner dissenting — the district approved to place security personnel at 32 k-5 schools throughout the county.

Sarasota Security Patrol Inc. will provide the individuals, who are mostly retired law enforcement officers and military veterans, to area schools by Friday. The community officers will meet with principals this week and should officially be stationed at each campus by the middle of next week.

Security is important to all of us (on the School Board)," Chairwoman Julie Aranibar said. "It's something we're all passionate about."

Although the members agree that the "most at-risk age group" of students deserves a level of extra security, how and what those measures look like has been a heavily debated topic among the School Board members.

During discussions, Miner, who has openly opposed the move to bring increased security to the schools by way of a school resource officer, voiced concerns about Chad Ritchie, owner of the Sarasota-based firm, being arrested in 1996 for impersonating a police officer.

To Minder and Gause, bringing officers on-campus isn't the best solution.

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].