Pembroke Pines police officers will continue to provide day-to-day protection for two Pembroke Pines high schools, but not in 12 elementary or middle schools, under a tentative agreement between the city and the Broward School District.
The city’s elementary and middle schools run by the Broward School District will still have armed security for the 2024-25 school year, with district police officers serving in middle schools and armed guardians, which are non-sworn officers, protecting elementary schools.
The proposal came after Superintendent Howard Hepburn and School Board Chairwoman Lori Alhadeff met with Pembroke Pines leaders recently. The Pembroke Pines Commission is expected to vote on the matter Wednesday.
Many Pembroke Pines parents have voiced concern since the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported last month that a contract dispute between the city and school district could mean school resource officers in many Pembroke Pines schools would be replaced by lower paid armed guardians. Whether they will be satisfied with the hybrid approach is unclear.
“Our priority remains to provide quality police services, and we believe this approach will allow us to maintain a safe and secure environment for everyone in our schools,” Kevin Nosowicz, Broward schools interim police chief, wrote in a recent email to a parent concerned about the changes.
“Our police department has a great working relationship with the Pembroke Pines police department and will continue to partner with each other to provide exceptional services to not only the City of Pembroke Pines schools but also the surrounding communities,” Nosowicz wrote.
School police officers are found in every middle and high school in the district, while guardians are in many elementary schools, including ones in Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors and Deerfield Beach.
Mayor Angelo Castillo told the Sun Sentinel that Pembroke Pines wanted to continue providing police officers in all city schools, but the school district refuses to pay the full costs. The school district has argued that it negotiated a standard price for all city police departments and the Broward Sheriff’s Office through the Broward County League of Cities and the Chiefs of Police Association.
The district has agreed to pay the city $113,560 per officer for four officers in two city high schools, West Broward and Charles Flanagan. Castillo said that’s about 30% below the city’s actual costs.
“They said the amount they are willing to pay is a standard amount which applies to every police department they do business with, and it’s not subject to negotiation,” Castillo said. “Understanding we have this concern, they decided they would change the security arrangement to what we have before us.
“We were willing and able and eager to provide an SRO in each of the public schools,” Castillo said. “We remain eager and willing to provide it, but they have to pay their bills.”
School Board member Torey Alston, whose district includes Pembroke Pines, voiced support for the efforts to resolve the issue.
“I support safer school measures, I support our school police and I stand by the City of Pembroke Pines,” he said. “There is a role for the district and we should ensure parents have SROs at each school.”
But Mike Hernandez, a parent and city commissioner, is not satisfied.
“Under a new superintendent, the Broward County Public Schools continues its outdated policy of providing security on the cheap,” he said. “That shouldn’t be the district’s policy in the same community that lived the Marjory Stoneman Douglas tragedy. As the father of two BCPS students, I’m extremely disappointed in our district leadership.”
