The latest Leon County Sheriff’s Office School Resource 2024-25 Annual Report is out, and it shows a 38.3% increase in high school arrests when compared to 2023-24. The increase was driven by a significant increase in arrests at Leon and Rickards high schools. The chart below shows the arrests for each of the five major Leon County high schools.
The purpose of the annual report is to document the operations of the Deputy School Resource program. The Deputy School Resource program currently serves 18 schools within the district. A total of 23 deputies are assigned to the unit. Deputies are given primary assignments at six high schools, ten middle schools, and two nontraditional schools. Members are also given secondary school assignments and respond as requested. The unit is supervised by one lieutenant and three sergeants.
Sheriff Walt McNeil’s message, in part, is “the challenges facing our children continue to evolve. Together with the School Board, we proactively address issues such as bullying, mental health, threats of violence, and substance abuse through joint programming, training, and intervention initiatives. Our combined efforts extend beyond safety – they represent an investment in the future of Leon County.”
The full report can be viewed here.
Key Highlights
Key Highlights from 2024-25 report note that LCSO participated in 80 active shooter drills, deputies provided instruction on anger management, bullying prevention, cybersecurity, and substance abuse awareness, and the unit expanded its hands-on engagement with youth, partnering with the Council on the Status of Men and Boys and leveraging internal LCSO programs to build positive relationships.
On the enforcement side, the report documents that there were 470 criminal complaints on campuses with outcomes that included 91 physical arrests, 106 civil citations, and 276 diversions.
In addition to criminal matters, deputies handled 2,553 non-criminal complaints, addressing behavioral concerns, disputes, and other school related incidents to maintain order and support school administration.
Also, the unit facilitated 13,418 student counseling sessions, reflecting a 44.1% increase over the previous year and conducted 2,316 parent conferences.
High School Arrests
The report documents 65 arrests in the five major Leon County high schools. Leon High School led with 36 arrests, a 111.8% increase over the 17 arrests reported in the previous year. Rickards was next with 17 arrests, a 21.4% increase over the 14 arrests in the previous year.
Godby (5), Chiles (1) and Lincoln (6) all reported one less arrest in 2024-2025 relative to the 2023-2024 numbers.
Leon County High School Arrests Up 38% in 2024-25 added by Steve Stewart on
View all posts by Steve Stewart →
It starts at home. Parents are too busy gentle parenting instead of parenting with discipline. Teachers and school administrators don’t get paid enough to deal with ? from students and their sorry parents.
Terri, no. It is not teachers’ jobs to be substitute parents. That’s a whole different set of problems.
Hitting these kids does not discipline them.
Perhaps if they are getting arrested at this point multiple times, it may be time for counseling (with a real counselor) on a long term basis. These kids were probably problem kids before they were arrested, but none of you teachers or principals did anything about it. Try identifying the problem before it escalates out of control. It’s like your zero tolerance policy for bullying that doesn’t mean anything! You do ZERO about it and it keeps happening. Then one day a really screwed up kid walks in and blows people away and you sit around going I just don’t understand why he did that! BECAUSE YOU DID NOTHING TO PROTECT HIM! Your job is changing, parents aren’t doing the same jobs they were so it’s up to you.
The figures indicate an increased vigilance and stronger enforcement by school officials. It’s a positive change if you want greater discipline in place.
The problem isn’t with the staff. The problem is parents not being parents and wanting to be their kids besties. Kids follow their parents example. Hold the kids and the parents accountable for their actions. Empower school staff to discipline these kids. As it stands, school staff fear doing or saying anything because these dirt bag parents are “sue-happy” if anyone says or does anything to their “angels”.
This sounds like, all the Programs that are in place to stop or curb these incidents are either not working or the Officers and Staff have stepped it up finally.
Leon Lions?
More like Leon Convicts.
Wow… just, wow.