Pasco County's School Resource Officers have completed their annual training, the Pasco Sheriff's Office announced on X Wednesday, Aug. 5, one week before students at Land O' Lakes High School, Sunlake High School and 104 other campuses return to class.
The SROs are specially trained deputies embedded at every school in the district. Under the most recent publicly available agreement between the sheriff's office and Pasco County Schools, signed for 2022-2025, 34 SROs work 8.5-hour days across all 181 school days each year.
That means both Land O' Lakes-area high schools will have a deputy on campus from day one.
Training required before each school year includes mental health crisis intervention coursework mandated by Florida law under SB 590. The curriculum must come from a national organization with expertise in mental health crisis intervention, and the sheriff certifies completion to the district's Chief of Safety and Emergency Operations.
Beyond responding to campus threats, SROs speak to classes about law enforcement, provide informal counseling to at-risk students, coordinate security for extracurricular activities, work with chronic truants and complete the Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool campus security evaluation.
The program dates to 1986, when deputies were assigned to just two high schools, according to the Pasco Sheriff's Office. It has since expanded to cover all 106 schools in a district that enrolled 86,685 students in 2024-25.
Alongside the training announcement, the sheriff's office named SRO Cpl. Brunner the 2026 School Resource Officer of the Year. Cpl. Brunner has served with the Pasco Sheriff's Office for 9.5 years and is in the military reserve.
The announcement is the latest in a string of back-to-school safety moves by the sheriff's office. Twelve new school crossing guards were sworn in the week of July 28, and on Aug. 3 the office warned families that fake school threats can bring felony charges.
Pasco County Schools' first day is Thursday, Aug. 13. Parents with safety questions can reach the Pasco Sheriff's Office non-emergency line at (727) 847-8102.
