The Florida Senate approved a school safety bill Tuesday that would allow teachers to voluntarily carry guns on campus if local school boards agree.
The measure, an expansion of the guardian program created after the Feb. 14, 2018, Parkland massacre, cleared a key hurdle in the Senate’s 22-17 mostly party-line vote, almost ensuring it will be signed into the law.
The bill now heads to the House, which is solidly supportive. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has indicated he will sign it into law if it passes.
The proposal has prompted fierce partisan debate. Students, including some from Parkland, traveled to Tallahassee to urge state lawmakers to defeat the bill.
Teachers would not automatically be authorized to carry guns. School boards would have to authorize it. South Florida school officials have resisted arming school employees.
In districts that choose to participate, educators who want to be armed would be required to pass a psychological evaluation and complete at least 144 hours of training.
Democrats tried repeatedly, but failed, to remove the language that would allow teachers to carry guns.
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, he said.
“What we are telling 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, and districts should have the flexibility to arm staff. 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. Those provisions have bipartisan support.
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 on Tuesday that lasted more than 20 minutes, 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 acknowledged she was conflicted. In December, Book supported a recommendation by the state commission investigating the Parkland shooting to allow teachers to be armed.
She described how she watched video footage of Chris Hixon, a wrestling coach at Stoneman Douglas, launching into action to try to protect students.
“I saw him look around, check his pockets, search desperately for something, anything to engage the shooter,” Book said. “After seeing all the footage, I know he could have and would have done more to stop or delay the carnage.”
Citing the community’s opposition to arming teachers, Book voted against the bill, but she called it an “exceedingly painful vote.”
Democrats stood united against the bill. Sen. Anitere Flores of Miami was the only Republican to cross the aisle and join Democrats in opposing the bill.
The proposal (SB 7030) expands the state’s Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program created in the wake of last year’s Parkland shooting.
Named for an assistant football coach killed in the massacre, the program allows non-instructional employees to carry guns if they undergo training.
Twenty-five districts participate in the guardian program, including Broward County. Another 14 districts are considering implementing one.
Broward County’s guardian program didn’t arm existing employees. Instead, the district hired security guards who earn $25,000 to $33,000 a year. Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties have school police forces that patrol schools.
sswisher@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher