Park City district outlines staffing, cost and timeline questions as state security law takes effect

Speaker 3, an operations staff member, told the Park City Board of Education that House Bill 84 "was recently passed, and it's really a game changer for school security in the state," and described new statewide mandates and one-time funding the meeting recorded as $100,000,000.

The district was asked to meet several new requirements, Speaker 3 said, including establishment of a state security team, a county security team and a district security director, plus standard response protocols, internal threat assessments, updated drills and physical-security upgrades such as cameras and door locks. He also said the law requires a staff presence in every school as of December 2024 and noted options include SROs (school resource officers) or trained armed security. "We can hire armed security," Speaker 3 said, and described training and screening requirements for a school guardian program.

Board members pressed for details on where staff would come from. Speaker 2 asked whether the bill allows agencies to bring back retired officers; Speaker 3 said the bill "doesn't specifically talk about that goal" but that agencies could pursue recruitment strategies and shared staffing models. Speaker 3 said district leaders will meet with Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter and Summit County Sheriff Frank Smith to explore staffing and cost-sharing.

On costs, Speaker 3 said the district currently budgets for one SRO and estimated the cost for an SRO at about $75,000 per year, noting that recurring staffing costs had not yet been built into the district's long-term budget. He said the district has some reserves and could use one-time funds for near-term needs but would need to plan for ongoing costs during the FY25 budget process.

Why it matters: The new mandates and the requirement for on-site security staff in every school could change district operations and recurring spending. District officials said timelines and recruitment will affect whether the school system can meet the December 2024 staffing expectation.

What’s next: District staff said they will continue planning with local law enforcement and include contingency funding discussions in the FY25 budget process. The board did not take a separate formal vote on staffing at the March 19 meeting.