GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels, Superintendent Addison Davis and School Board Police Department Chief of Police Kenneth Wagner said they’ve reached an agreement to police county schools around the clock.

Both sides maintained there will be a working relationship between CCSO and CCSBPD, although how that would happen still remained in the gray. Since the new police force’s inception, Daniels sent out a press release on April 22 that said CCSO would begin routing any and all calls for service, alarm calls and reports of criminal activity on school board property to CCSBPD, including after-school hours.

“To that end, I believe that it is in the best interest of our students and schools to assist the School District Police Department in providing law enforcement services for Clay County School Board (CCSB) property and at school events,” Daniels said in the release. “Given that the School District Police Department has primary jurisdiction on all CCSB property, I will begin the process of routing calls for service at CCSB properties to the School District Police Department.”

Davis responded three days later to formally request a meeting to remove politics from the conversation, and to determine how the relationship between CCSBPD and CCSO would work in the future.

“My letter is a formal communication to ask an immediate sit down to remove the politics and focus on what matters most, our children,” Davis said.

Then on May 1, Davis, Daniels and Wagner addressed the public in a video together posted by both the school district and CCSO. In it, Daniels explained that he believes all parties involved were committed to keeping everyone safe on school grounds.

“I have good news,” Daniels said in the video. “I believe that the school district and the sheriff’s office are on one page. I believe that the department under the leadership of Chief Wagner will be supported by the sheriff’s office and district employees to keep our kids safe.”

Daniels said they agreed on a number of subjects, details and possibilities, including interlocal agreements and memorandums of understanding. Daniels and Davis explained the agreement through the video.

“It was a blessing to come together today to discuss all of the future possibilities and the partnerships that will continue to grow to protect our children, each of our schools, our teachers and our community members so that nobody goes unnoticed,” Wagner said. “We’re here for them to deliver great quality service and good customer in serving and protecting the community.”

During the May 2 regular school board meeting, Davis addressed this video and expanded on the relationship between CCSBPD and CCSO. He explained that Daniels agreed to continue school service coverage for all schools until August 13, which means they won’t be rerouting all service calls to CCSBPD as previously stated. According to Davis, the school district and CCSO are currently in the process of formally hammering out memorandums of understanding and interlocal agreements.

While there was no official timeline for when that process for writing out the memorandums of understanding and interlocal agreements, it should be completed by Aug. 13 since that’s when CCSO’s school coverage expires.