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Costs rising for armed guards at St. Johns County schools

Armed guard in school hallway
Florida Times-Union File Photo
An armed guard in a school hallway.

The St. Johns County School District is boosting its spending on school safety.

A plan presented Tuesday morning to the school board calls for more than $1 million more than last year to go toward protecting schools in the fast-growing district which includes increasing pay for armed guards.

Senior Director for School Services Paul Abbatinozzi said the increases will cost the school district a total of around $4.7 million, but with help from the state, the district is only on the hook for about $1.9 million, or 70%. That’s a district budget increase of more than $668,000 when compared to last year.

Read the rest of this story at WJCT News partner News4Jax.