What is Florida’s school guardian program?

News 6 | By Christie Zizo | December 10, 2024

Program was borne from the 2018 school shooting in Parkland

ORLANDO, Fla. – In Florida, law enforcement officers aren’t the only ones who can be trained to keep schools safe.

The state has a school guardian program that allows districts to train school employees or bring in specially-trained employees to protect a school if there is an incident.

Fifty-three public school districts in Florida have some form of guardian program. Charter and private schools can also be part of the program.

Where did the school guardian program come from?

In 2018, a gunman committed a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people — 14 students and three school employees.

The school guardian program was created to help districts comply with security mandates that came about because of the Parkland shooting.

The legislature passed the program as part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act.

How does it work?

School districts work with county sheriff’s offices to create a program to train and vet potential guardians, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Guardians can be school district employees, including teachers, who volunteer to be part of the program, they can be people who are hired specifically to be school guardians, or they can be private security guards who have completed guardian training and are contracted by the school district.

Former law enforcement officers can also serve as guardians.

To qualify for the program, guardians must pass a psychological evaluation and a drug test.

Then they have to complete a minimum of 144 hours of training by the sheriff’s office. The program is based on the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission’s Law Enforcement Academy.

It includes 80 hours of firearms instruction, and participants must get an 85% on firearms training to pass. There is also training on defensive tactics and legal issues, and in active shooter scenarios.

The guardian is then able to carry a firearm on school campuses.

They also have to complete ongoing training, weapons inspection and firearm qualification at least once a year.

What is a guardian allowed to or not allowed to do on campus?

A guardian is able to provide campus surveillance, monitor any potential threats, and help with threat assessments. In the event there is an active situation on a school campus, the guardians are supposed to take action to stop the threat immediately and work with law enforcement.

However, a guardian is not a law enforcement officer and has no authority to act like a law enforcement officer, except when needed to prevent or stop an active incident.

Who keeps track of whether a potential guardian is allowed on a campus?

In 2024, the Florida Legislature updated the school guardian program to require the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to maintain data on school guardians.

That data includes information on whether a guardian, or any other safe school officer, has been disciplined, dismissed, or has fired their weapon.