The Marjory Stoneman High School Public Safety Commission wants lawmakers to require Florida’s sheriffs to train public school staffers to carry a gun on campus.

The commission voted unanimously on Thursday to recommend the change to a guardian program that was named after the Stoneman Douglas coach, Aaron Feis, who died protecting students. The program provides law enforcement training to public school staffers, excluding teachers, who want to carry a gun on campus, but current law does not require sheriff’s offices to participate.

So far, only 25 of 67 school districts are participating in the program, according to the Florida Department of Education, and only $9.3 million of the $67 million lawmakers appropriated for the program has been spent.

Charter school officials struggling to comply with the new campus safety mandates are hoping the program will be expanded. Lynn Norman-Teck, executive director of the Florida Charter School Alliance, applauded the recommendation.

“We are pleased that the commission understands the challenges public schools face when trying to meet the safe school mandates,” she said.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who is a member of the commission, proposed the requirement.

“We need to tell the sheriffs, ‘Do your job,’” he said. “A majority of those sheriffs want to do the Guardian program but fear the Guardian program because of insurance companies.”

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, chairman of the commission, agreed. “We need to be part of the solution and not part of the problem,” he said. “We have to come up with a way to allow these districts that want to do it to get around the sheriff where the sheriff won’t do it.”

After the Parkland shooting in February, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law legislation increasing security measures at schools. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act requires all public schools to hire a school resource officer (SRO), a sheriff’s deputy, or a trained employee to carry a gun on campus.

However, many charter schools, which receive less money than traditional public schools according to a  2017 Florida TaxWatch study, can’t afford SROs. Finances are not the only obstacle. In many areas, there simply are not enough officers to meet the needs of each school.

State Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, said thorough training is paramount. “We want to make sure that training is what it is supposed to be,” she said. “What we want it to be. Anything else would be a recipe for a problem.”

 

School safety task force: The Broward County School District's controversial alternative discipline program, Promise, is the focus of the second meeting of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Safety Commission. School officials defend the program, saying it has reduced the schools-to-prison pipeline that has been a problem in Broward. Members of the panel are skeptical that the program changes behavior, and want more answers at the next meeting July 10 and 11. “We need to dig deep into this ... program,” says commission member Grady Judd, who is the sheriff in Polk County. News Service of Florida. Associated Press. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. TCPalm. Politico Florida. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who chairs the state safety commission, says he believes lawmakers did set aside enough money to pay for an armed safety officer at all schools. Politico Florida. Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow died in the Parkland shootings, resigns from the commission, saying he wants to concentrate on his own investigation of the tragedy and on electing new members to the Broward County School Board. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Politico Florida.

School security: Members of the Marion County School Board say the $5.3 million cost to put certified law enforcement officers in every school may force them to consider arming employees at some elementary schools. Ocala Star-Banner. Volusia County school officials want to add six more school resource officers and hire 44 school guardians for school security, but are having trouble reaching an agreement with local law enforcement agencies on how to pay for them. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Many city officials in Brevard County disagree with the school district's plan to put school resource officers where it can and fill the gaps with security specialists, and are finding money for SROs. Florida Today. The Jackson County School Board approves the creation of a police department for the school district. WMBB. A report commissioned by the Palm Beach County School District suggests the district should proceed with its plan to create its own police force. Earlier this week, a consultant hired by the sheriff recommended that the school police force merge with the sheriff's office. Palm Beach Post. (more…)

Security in schools: The Polk County School District and Sheriff Grady Judd are working on a plan to have an armed "safety specialist" in all county elementary schools this fall. The district is finalizing a job description, but the specialists will fall between a sworn school resource officer and an armed school employee. As many as 90 will be hired, and the school district will pay for them. Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd says the pay will be "significantly less" than what resource officers and teachers make. Judd says the specialists' job is to be a "visual deterrent to an active shooter, and be trained to suppress the active shooter threat” if necessary. Lakeland Ledger. WKMG. WFLA. Manatee and Sarasota school districts are struggling to find funding to comply with the state law to have an officer in every school by fall. Law enforcement authorities in both counties contend that since the school districts are getting some money from the state, they should be responsible for the full costs of school security. WWSB.

Budget 'crisis': Volusia County School Board members say the district is in "crisis mode" after the preliminary budget shows a deficit of $4.2 million. School officials blame a small increase in funding from the state, an underfunded state mandate on school security and proposed 1 percent teacher raises for the deficit. “I’m a little alarmed by it and very cautious about what we must do,” says board chairwoman Linda Cuthbert, who noted that decisions need to be made soon. “It’s certainly going to be a difficult budget cycle,” says Deb Muller, chief financial officer for the district. Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Testing cautions: National Assessment of Educational Progress testing results have positive news about Florida, and particularly several three large school districts. But they also show there's work to be done, especially in 8th-grade math and in closing the achievement gap between racial and ethnic groups. redefinED. Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart says her top goal is to close the academic achievement gap between students of different racial and economic backgrounds. She says part of the problem is chronic teacher absenteeism. “I can tell you ... with our most vulnerable students that we have our teachers that are less motivated and less capable. We’ve got to make that shift and we’ve got to help them become better or help them find another profession,” Stewart said in a speaking appearance in Sarasota. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (more…)

Marching students: Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland lead a march of about 800,000 people in Washington, D.C., to call for stricter regulation of guns and safety in schools. Seventeen people were killed in a shooting at the school Feb. 14, launching the #NeverAgain movement and marches in Washington and around the world on Saturday. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. New York Times. Associated Press. Tribune News Service. Politico. Tampa Bay Times. Politico Florida. Naples Daily News. The 74. Education Week. Students around the state also participate in local marches. Associated Press. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Florida Times-Union. Politico Florida. Tallahassee Democrat. Pensacola News Journal. Florida Today. Fort Myers News-Press. TCPalm. Naples Daily News. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Bradenton Herald. Gainesville Sun. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Flagler Live. Northwest Florida Daily News. Daily Commercial. Citrus County Chronicle. Villages-News. Key West Citizen. The story of how Stoneman Douglas High students turned their grief into action is the subject of a documentary called 39 Days. CBS News. What's next for the Stoneman Douglas student-activists? Miami Herald. USA Today. An online poll shows that two-thirds of U.S. high school students think gun laws should be stricter. Orlando Sentinel.

School security: Another battle is shaping up between school districts and the state over the requirements of the new school safety law. Districts say the Legislature didn't provide enough funding for putting an armed officer in every school, and there isn't enough time to comply by the start of the next school year. “People want school security, right now,” says Andrea Messina, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association. “But just having this legislation in place doesn’t mean anything is going to improve right away." Sun-Sentinel. GateHouse. Tampa Bay Times. Gov. Rick Scott sends a letter to every school superintendent and school board with a list of things they must do to comply with the new Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. Florida Today. WCJB. A school safety pilot program developed by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd in 2016 is incorporated into Florida's controversial new law, and is the basis for Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey's program. It calls for arming teachers and other school workers with concealed weapons at schools. Florida Today. Jewish school leaders in south Florida praise state leaders for setting aside $2 million in the budget to harden non-public schools. Sun-Sentinel. The Leon County School District denies a request from a charter school company to provide Governors Charter Academy in Tallahassee a school resource officer by April 1. Tallahassee Democrat. Gradebook. A company is testing a school alert system at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce that initiates a loud siren and strobe lights to alert and disrupt in an active-shooter situation. TCPalm. The Clay County School District begins a series of community meetings about school safety today. Florida Times-Union. St. Johns County school and law enforcement officials struggle with an increased sense of anxiety in schools. St. Augustine Record. (more…)

Education bill: The Florida legislative session moves into its final three weeks, with a series of education issues to be decided. The Senate is reviewing the House education bill, and among the proposals being considered is replacing the House bill with the Senate version. Both bills would establish a Hope Scholarship for students who are victims of bullying or violence, though they disagree on how to pay for the program, and force teachers unions to disband if paying membership falls below 50 percent of the employees represented. Higher education issues, such as permanently funding an increase in Bright Futures scholarships, also will be addressed. News Service of Florida. redefinED. Gradebook. WUSF. Miami New Times. Gatehouse Media. WLRN. About 150 Tampa Bay area teachers protest against H.B. 7055 just down the street from House Speaker Richard Corcoran's Land O'Lakes office. Gradebook.

Political pressure: Marjory Stoneman Douglas students plan a march on the capital Wednesday to demand action on gun safety, just one of several rallies planned. Florida legislators say they will consider laws enacting an age limit to buy an assault rifle and add a three-day waiting period for all rifle purchases. Gov. Rick Scott has organized three meetings today to discuss school safety improvements and ways to keep guns out of the hands of people with mental illnesses. Miami Herald. Associated Press. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Sunshine State News. Florida Politics. WLRN. Legislation pushed by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam will be considered once legislators strip out a provision allowing people to get a concealed carry permit without a thorough background check. Politico Florida. President Donald Trump says he would support an improvement in putting criminal offenses and other data into the national instant background check system. Sun-Sentinel. Broward School Superintendent Robert Runcie has spent much of the past five days acting as a tour guide for state and national politicians to the tragic shooting in Parkland, with the bullet casings and pools of blood still on the floors. “We’ve given them detailed tours and explanations of what has happened so they become sensitized to the tragedy and we can get the support we need,” Runcie says. “We only have one opportunity to make sure they understand what was inflicted on our community.” Miami Herald.

Cruz's rifles, appearance: Accused school shooter Nikolas Cruz had purchased 10 rifles in the year leading up to the killing of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland last week. CNN. Cruz made his first appearance in a Broward circuit court Monday, but said nothing. The appearance was to discuss a sealed defense document that reportedly involved access of defense lawyers to Cruz. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. WKMG. NBC News. Sun-Sentinel. The Florida Department of Children and Families will release 22 pages from a 2016 report compiled after caseworkers visited Cruz. The DCF got approval for the unusual move from a Broward County judge, which was necessary because Florida law prohibits the release of DCF files without a court order. Miami Herald.

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Charter schools. The Pinellas school board will again consider whether to sell a vacant middle school building to a proposed charter school, reports Gradebook. A new charter school in Immokalee that will use blended learning is now enrolling students , reports the Naples Daily News.

Data. The Bradenton Herald editorial board: The data access bill by Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, won't compromise student privacy.

School choice. Jewish educators and leaders lobby for expanded school choice in the Capitol. Lubavitch.com.

Teacher evals. State Impact Florida: "A new study says error rates for teacher evaluations based on student test scores is “quite high,” but that the evaluations may still be more accurate than traditional measures."

Gays and lesbians. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen files legislation to better protect gay and lesbian students from bullying, reports the Miami Herald. In support of the bill, a Leesburg eighth-grader tells reporters about being harassed, reports the Orlando Sentinel. (more…)