Brevard Schools considers expansion of program that would allow teachers to be armed

Despite a claim from its board chair that the district is currently top in the state for school safety, the Brevard Public Schools board is considering arming staff, which would include teachers.

"Comparative to the rest of the school districts inside the state, we are No. 1 as far as the security goes and what we do," said Matt Susin toward the start of Tuesday night's board meeting, ahead of a presentation about district security.

"The things we're doing are far advanced past any of the other school districts, and even (Superintendent Mark) Rendell said that this school district was about a year or two ahead of the other districts that he's been a part of in security just because of how we've put that first."

In spite of Susin's words, and a report from the district's chief operating officer with recommendations that did not include arming staff, board vice chair Megan Wright proposed doing so by expanding the guardian program in Brevard, a program initially established in 2018 through the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act.

Wright said she had recently visited Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and was concerned about making sure nothing similar to the 2018 Parkland shooting ever occurs in Brevard.

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"I walked away from that feeling good about where Brevard is, but also feeling like we could be better," she said.

A report from the chief operating officer, Rachad Wilson, showed the district has made "substantial improvements in school safety," though there is still work to be done. Based on the district's Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool — a report all districts are required to complete and submit to the Department of Education yearly — Wilson recommended steps including Rendell and future superintendents reissuing mandatory security procedures, ensuring that all stakeholders of BPS be involved with increasing the culture of safety, planning annual RAVE security drills and more. The security drills are a drill kit from the Rave mobile safety company, whose Rave Panic Button app contacts emergency responders and law enforcement with the push of a button.

While Wilson did not recommend arming staff, Wright referenced other districts that allowed staff and teachers to be armed, saying these districts "were doing security very, very well" and had thriving guardian programs.

The program was established after the school's public safety commission initially found that having guardians in schools was the best way to ensure "highly trained personnel" would be in place to respond to a school shooting.

In 2019, Florida's legislature expanded the program to include Class D and G licensed security guards and certain school district and charter school employees who volunteer to participate. Private schools may also participate as of 2023.

Brevard is already a participant in the program, with the district opting to hire civilians with backgrounds in security, the military and law enforcement as full-time security guards in 2019. However, Wright's proposal would expand that program.

It was a move board member Jennifer Jenkins staunchly opposed.

"As an educator, married to an educator, my 7-year-old little girl inside a school — I do not believe that that is the responsibility of our teachers," she said. "I don't believe that that's the answer."

Wright disagreed, saying teachers would not necessarily be required to be armed.

"By no means when we say, '(Expand) the guardian program in Brevard County,' does it mean a teacher now must carry a firearm," Wright said. "It's 100% voluntary. They can choose to do so if they want to be a part of it."

She added that she wasn't sure if teachers being included in the program would be the best option, saying she would need to look at other districts further.

Board member Katye Campbell advised the board to take their time considering the expansion, recalling the community's reaction in 2018 when the program was first introduced.

"I just want to clarify, because I remember all the misconceptions from five years ago," Campbell said. "It has to be voluntary. Two, not everybody who volunteers qualifies. Not everyone who is qualified is eligible ... (or) completes the training, they have to go through the mental health training, they have to do all those things."

Rendell agreed that he would have district staff begin investigating what other districts are doing with their guardian programs so that Brevard could begin considering expanding their program.

"We have direction to explore this and bring some information back to the board," he said.

Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or [email protected]. X: @_finchwalker

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard Schools considers allowing teachers, other staff to be armed