Most districts pass on giving teachers guns
Only 11 of state’s 67 counties give option of weapons on campus, officials report
Only 11 of Florida’s 67 county school districts have given classroom teachers the option of carrying guns on campus this school year, according to the latest data collected by the Florida Department of Education.
Armed teachers have been shunned by the state’s largest urban school districts, including Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Orange counties.
Although educators in 11 districts have the option of carrying guns in the classroom, it’s unclear how many are, Damien Kelly, director of the Office of Safe Schools, told state lawmakers this week. The state is not collecting statistics on how many teachers are carrying guns on campus.
A spokeswoman with the Florida Department of Education didn’t respond Tuesday to a request from the South Florida Sun Sentinel for a list of the 11 districts that have authorized teachers to be armed. A recent Wall Street Journal survey found seven mostly rural districts had approved or were considering arming teachers. Those districts are Bay, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Okeechobee, Putnam and
Suwannee.
In the wake of the Feb. 14, 2018, Parkland school shooting, the Florida Legislature required at least one armed person be stationed at every school. The law created a guardian program that allowed non-instructional school employees to carry guns if they undergo training. That law was amended earlier this year to include classroom teachers if school districts agree.
That change became a lightning rod of controversy with Democrats arguing that arming teachers was a shortsighted plan that would make students less safe. Guardians must pass psychological and drug screenings and complete a minimum of 144 hours of training.
Instead of arming teachers, districts have taken a variety of approaches to meet state requirements. As part of its armed guardian program, Broward County contracts with local police agencies for security and hired additional safety officers who make between $25,000 and $33,000 a year. Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties have their own school police forces.
Protecting charter schools under the new law has proven complicated for several Florida districts. The Broward School Board took over a charter school earlier in August because it lacked a security guard and voted to monitor another one. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office issued a scathing report that found a company that trained armed guards for charter schools in the county used unqualified instructors and passed students.
State statistics show that 3,170 law enforcement officers and 1,084 guardians have been assigned to 3,717 schools across Florida.