FLAGLER BEACH — A Flagler County mother has agreed to pay for an armed deputy to patrol her child's school at a cost of $32 per hour through the end of the year.

Laura Lauria has paid the Flagler County School District upfront for the cost of a deputy to staff Old Kings Elementary for about two months starting Jan. 14. The mother made a "verbal commitment" to pay for the deputy for the rest of the year after that, Superintendent Janet Valentine said.

"I don't know how you say no to such a wonderful gesture," Valentine said Monday.

Lauria did not respond to requests for comment and nobody came to the door at her Flagler Beach home Monday afternoon. A 12-year-old girl with the last name "Lauria" is listed as a sixth-grader at Old Kings in the district's student directory.

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