They’ve kept security funding stable, but that’s coming with greater difficulty.

St. Johns County Public Schools Superintendent Joe Joyner says the district’s overall budget has fallen over the past five years.

“Whether it’s school safety, or curriculum, or teachers- it’s all gone backwards,” he says.

He has made sure school safety has been a priority in the budget every year, keeping it steady at the expense of salary freezes, scale backs in clerical support to schools, cut backs in the district office and other budget scrimping. Utility savings have also helped make up the difference.

But Joyner says, in that same time, the district has added an average of one school each year, and it’s getting difficult to keep up.

“The additional growth without the capitol dollars has really been a strain on our system,” he says.

Like other school districts around the state, St. Johns schools have had to deal with cuts in the amount of money it receives from the state.  But many of the other districts aren’t seeing the same level of growth.

In order to cope with the budget, Joyner says they have put aside a lot of maintenance, some of which affects school security.

“Some need fencing, some need cameras, you know some need technology, some need other things like that,” he says.

But he says in order for schools to get these security “improvements”, it will take a capital funding boost.

“To meet all of our needs is gunna take more than just a small increase.”

With the tragic elementary school shooting in Connecticut last week, Joyner has seen the national discussion on school safety really pick back up, however.  He says it has trickled down to the state level as well, and he is “positive” there will be a discussion, and hopefully, from that, change.