Some school police officers could be replaced by armed guards due to funding dispute

One of Broward’s largest cities could soon remove its police officers from 14 schools, potentially leaving the school district to rely on lower-paid armed security officers.

Pembroke Pines Mayor Angelo Castillo sent letters in recent weeks to School Board Chairwoman Lori Alhadeff and School Board member Allen Zeman, saying the district must pay the full cost of police officers for the city to continue providing school resource officers.

“The City of Pembroke Pines remains fully prepared and willing to continue providing SROs to all district schools in our city, however, the district must pay the full cost of that service,” Castillo wrote in a June 27 letter to Zeman.

His letter listed the cost of each full-time officer at $165,251, including salary, benefits and equipment costs.