FELMING ISLAND – The Clay County School District Police Department is composed of officers from surrounding departments, counties, bordering states and one officer who came all the way from Hawaii.

Michael Munroe was born and raised in Mission Hills, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Munroe moved to the island of Oahu, home of Hawaii’s state capitol, Honolulu, where he served more than one million residents as a State Sheriff.

Now, he’ll do the same for Clay County schools.

“I feel honored and blessed to be working for this department,” Munroe said.

While Munroe is excited about his new job. His wife learned of the job first. Although Munroe and his wife met in Hawaii and both loved the state, his wife wanted to move back to Florida. The job posting for the school police department was the perfect opportunity.

“My wife found the job and it seemed like a great opportunity to get back to Florida, so I applied,” Munroe said.

Chief of Police Kenneth Wagner said he’s honored that somebody would travel that far.

“I’m honored,” Wagner said. “It’s truly amazing. You know, I think sometimes people look for where the grass is greener and, in this case, the grass must have been greener because (Munroe) saw this department and decided it’s where he wants to focus his energies on, and he’s done just that. He is a fantastic officer.”

Munroe will be protecting Ridgeview Elementary when students arrive on Aug. 13 for the first day of classes. Munroe said he can’t wait to build relationships with the students.

According to Munroe, Ridgeview students better prepare for his fist-bumps and high fives.

“These officers are putting themselves in the line of danger to protect our kids and it’s important that those kids feel like they can trust these officers,” Superintendent Addison Davis said.

Wagner said the relationships he hopes to build with students can grow into meaningful positivity that follows the children as they navigate through the rest of their school career – and beyond.

“It’s a blessing and an honor to be working with kids and for kids, for their parents, for the teachers, for the staff,” Munroe said. “Chief Wagner is a great chief and we’ve got some great lieutenants and officers here. Everyone has a lot of knowledge and I think the school district is in really good hands.

“Who could ask for a better job?”