Stoneman Douglas commission to make recommendations to improve safety
A draft report on the Parkland school shooting will be released this week, as the state commission investigating the massacre holds its final meetings before submitting findings and recommendations to the governor and Legislature.
The draft report, which will detail the commission's analysis of what went wrong and contain proposals for improvements, is expected to be released Wednesday.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, chairman of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, said many of the initial recommendations are likely to focus on practical, quick and cost-effective things to do to improve school safety.
"Physical site security will be a robust area for discussion because I believe there are immediate things that are absolutely essential to do that are low or no cost and don't require any substantial law or regulation that will greatly enhance the safety of the campuses," he said.
Based on proposals submitted by individual members of the commission, these could include requiring all open gates to be guarded, establishing safe areas in classrooms called “hard corners” that can't be hit by gunshots from the doorway and requiring classroom doors to be locked or attended by a teacher.
The commission, established after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School took 17 lives, consists of law enforcement officers, public officials and parents of the murdered students. The commission’s report is due to the governor and Legislature on Jan. 1.
Other proposed improvements include mandated training on Code Red campus lockdown procedures, so teachers, staff and students know who can issue them and what to do.
Exactly which proposals will be included in the report will be discussed at the commission’s meetings Wednesday and Thursday in Tallahassee. The meetings, which begin at 8:30 a.m., will be broadcast live from a site that can be reached from the commission’s web page, www.fdle.state.fl.us/MSDHS/Meetings.
The commission is expected to make many recommendations on what to do to prevent such events, such as improving and standardizing procedures for evaluating students as possible threats. But Gualtieri said many of the quickest and most effective steps will involve how to minimize the loss of life in shootings.
"We have to be prepared that if something happens, we can stop it or mitigate it as quickly and effectively as we can," he said. Students escorted off campus the day of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas