Orange Park officers to stay in Clay Schools despite district police force
Clay County Florida June 15 2019 Students can’t imagine Orange Park Elementary without school resource Officer Samantha Frehulfer.
They make sure to show their appreciation.
Frehulfer, known at the school as Officer Fre, told Action News Jax, “I have hundreds of pictures that they’ve drawn for me, different notes that all the different grades have written for me.”
She jumped at the chance to work in schools when the Orange Park Police Department opened positions for SROs.
“I really wanted to come to the schools to create those bonds with those children and to change the bias toward law enforcement that they may not even know they have,” she explained.
She’s one of three Orange Park Police officers working at the town’s two elementary, and one middle school.
Parents say they’re grateful their kids will still have the SROs they love in their classrooms. Orange Park Elementary parent Tracy Hinton said, “The kids love her, the staff, the parents love her. She’s fantastic.”
Her son Wyatt, a 4th grader at the school described, “You can’t walk through the front office without seeing a kid in her office.”
All were worried earlier this year when the Clay County School Board created their own police force, replacing the SROs from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
Frehulfer admitted, “I was concerned that I was going to get pulled out of Orange Park Elementary.”
Chief Gary Goble said the department has an agreement with the district to keep their officers in the town’s schools for the coming year.
“We care about this community we live in and we care about the kids and we care about their safety. It’s just something that you can’t replace,” he explained.
Hinton said she’s more comfortable with Officer Fre in the classroom.
The SRO said she’ll be happy to continue setting an example for students.
Frehulfer described, “Even if I change one person’s life – it’s what I’m here for.”
According to the Chief Goble the school board could decide to put their officers in the three schools at a later date, but not during the coming school year.
