Parents begging Clay County School Board to reconsider plan to create its own police department

Parents are asking the Clay County School Board to rethink its decision to create their own police department. In a packed meeting Thursday night, dozens of parents expressed their concerns to the school board.

UPDATE: Clay County School Board state approval for new police force

“Slow it down! You can’t do this in five months,” said a concerned parent.

Many parents think it’s impossible for the Clay County School Board to create its own police department in just a few months.

Another parent said, “I just ask you that you please take this under more consideration.”

RELATED: School district, sheriff at odds over law enforcement in Clay County schools

But more than that, they want the men and women who work for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office protecting their kids.

“I don’t feel you can’t put together a police force to match what Clay County has,” another parent said at the meeting.

Action News Jax told reported last week when Sheriff Darryl Daniels said he wanted his deputies in every school.

This week, he proposed a plan that would require the school district to pay 70 percent of the cost for the school resource officers, and the board of county commissioners to cover the remaining 30 percent.

Carol Studdard said while the plan right now is to move forward, she said they’ll see what happens next week.

“I want to see what the county commissioners and the sheriff discuss on Tuesday,” she said.

Studdard said she and the sheriff, who is always seen with a cup of coffee, and uses the hashtag BigGulp, should get together for a cup and talk.

“Maybe the sheriff and I need to sit down together and have a big gulp together,” Studdard said.

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