The Florida Senate approved a school safety bill Tuesday that would allow teachers to voluntarily carry guns on campus if local school boards agree.
Senators voted 22-17 mostly along party lines. The House is set to take up the measure next.
If approved, local school boards and charter school governing boards would have to authorize the arming of teachers.
Educators who volunteer to participate would be required to pass a psychological evaluation and complete at least 144 hours of training.
Arming teachers created a partisan divide in the Legislature. Democrats tried repeatedly to remove the language that would allow teachers to carry guns but failed.
Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, said teachers already have to serve as social workers and counselors because of society’s problems. Providing armed security shouldn’t be added to the list of responsibilities.
“What we are telling our teachers is if you want protection for you and your children then you do it yourself,” he said.
But supporters said the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 students and staff dead was over in about four minutes. An armed teacher might have been able to stop the shooter, said Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater.
“I must err on the side of saving a kid,” he said.
The bill features other items aimed at school safety, including greater reporting of school safety incidents, a standardized risk assessment process for dangerous students and new guidelines on school-based mental health.
The bill’s recommendations stem from work done by a state commission created to investigate the Parkland shooting and search for ways to prevent school shootings.
Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, served on the commission. In a tearful floor speech, she described how she watched video of the massacre “bullet by bullet” and has “done nothing but eat, drink and sleep” the tragedy for the past year trying to find ways to make improvements.
She said the bill makes a lot of positive changes on school-based mental health, campus crime reporting and school threat assessments, but her community urged her to vote against the bill.
“I must vote no today, but it’s an exceedingly painful vote,” Book said.
This story is developing and will be updated.
sswisher@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher